Forever Shadow Kissed
by Hannahmaaate
Summary: This is a continued version Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead. What if Rose went back into the caves and saved Dimitri from the blond Strigoi? Will they survive? If they do, what will people think of their forbidden love? Will it last? Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

**Shadow Kiss**

_Page 412 and continue_

**Chapter 1**

We ran to the exit, emerging into the air. My group clustered by the opening, anxious to see what had happened. The sun, I was dismayed to see, was nearly gone. The nausea hadn't left me, which meant Strigoi were still alive.

Moments later, my mother's party came tearing down the hall. By the numbers, one more had gone down. But they were so close. Everyone had tensed up. So close. So, so close.

But not close enough. Three Strigoi lay in wait in one of the alcoves. We'd passed them but they'd let us go by. It all happened so fast; no one could have reacted in time. One of the Strigoi grabbed Celeste, his mouth and fangs going straight for her cheek. I heard a strangled scream and saw blood everywhere. One of the Strigoi went for Ms. Carmack, but my mother jerked her away and shoved her forward toward us.

The third Strigoi grabbed Dimitri. In all the time I'd known him, I'd never seen Dimitri falter. He was always faster, always stronger than everyone else. Not this time. This Strigoi had caught him by surprise, and that slight edge was all it had taken.

I stared. It was the blond Strigoi. The one who had spoken to me in the battle.

He grabbed Dimitri and pulled him to the ground. They grappled, strength against strength, and then I saw those fangs sink into Dimitri's neck. The red eyes flicked up and made contact with my own.

I heard another scream – this time, it was my own.

My mother started to double back toward the fallen, but then five more Strigoi appeared. It was chaos. I couldn't see Dimitri anymore; I couldn't see what happened had to him. Indecision flashed over my mother's features as she tried to decide to flee or fight, and then, regret all over her face, she kept running toward us and the exit. Meanwhile, I was trying to run _back_ inside, but someone was stopping me. It was Stan.

"What are you doing, Rose? More are coming."

Didn't he understand? Dimitri was in there. I had to get Dimitri.

Just as my mom and Alberta burst out dragging Ms. Carmack, I snatched my arm out of Stan's firm grasp and started for cave opening. I heard people screaming out my name in protest, but I didn't care. All I cared about was saving Dimitri.

I could hear several pairs of feet following my pursuit, I just pushed that fact aside and let the remains of the darkness inside of me fuel my fight, I was deadly. I lunged at the nearest unsuspecting Strigoi and staked him from behind. I turned to the next Strigoi and kicked out, hitting it in the stomach. It cried out in pain but a second later it was straightened up and advancing on me. I felt a wave of pure bloodlust scream through my veins. I have never felt the dark side effects of spirit use so powerful or dangerous. When I attacked Jesse, it felt nothing like it did right now. A roar of pure hatred for these despicable creatures escaped from my mouth and I went on autopilot. Everything went past in a blur; I knew I was fighting, every punch and kick. In my peripheral vision I could see other guardians fighting with the last of their strength. From the faces I could see, it was my mother, Alberta, Stan, Stephen, a couple of novices and another guardian I couldn't see.

There were four Strigoi left insight, I knew more were coming so if I was going to make a move I had to do it now. In amongst all the grunts and attacks, I heard the sound of a struggle followed by familiar Russian swear words.

Dimitri.

He was still alive.

I looked around franticly. All the other guardians were busy with the four Strigoi that weren't attacking Dimitri. But the blond one that was fighting him was getting the upper hand. Dimitri managed to kick him off and scramble to his feet, dodging the blond's furious swings. His neck and shirt was smothered in blood and he was breathing heavily.

I ran forward and tried to create a distraction by kicking the Strigoi in the side, he stumbled two steps and in those few seconds of faltering, Dimitri threw a hard punch to the blond's pale face causing him to raise his arms for the slightest second in which I shoved my stake in his heart.

I pulled it out and looked up at my favourite pair of dark brown eyes and I let the tears flow. I flung my arms around him and hugged him tight. He wrapped his arms around me and murmured my name into my hair, and then he quickly let me go.

"We have to get out of here." He panted as he began hobbling out of the cave.

I yelled out to the remaining guardians that were fighting the last two Strigoi to make their retreat, and with that we bolted out of the caves as fast as our exhausted bodies could take us. Stan and Alberta came up from behind to support Dimitri, who probably had a broken leg, and we started running back to the academy to the safety of the wards.

I noticed that as we exited the cave that most of the novices had already left the mountainside and headed back to the school. Which was a smart move considering how scarily low the sun was. Night time was a heartbeat away, which only made the remaining guardians push themselves that much harder and that much faster.

We tore through the forest at a blinding speed. My adrenaline was racing through my body, my lungs screaming in protest. I just kept pushing, the pain could wait, safety first.

The clearing through the forest that led to the school was in sight after a couple of minutes of solid all out sprinting. My heavy breathing was getting the better of me and I could feel myself slowing down, I was out of energy and my adrenaline rush was long finished.

"Keep going, Rose! We're almost there!" Dimitri managed to call out in between painful grunts and groans.

He was right. I could do this. All his trainings were to make me stronger and faster, to push myself farther. I took a deep breath and pumped my legs back into a sprint. I literally threw myself over the threshold of the wards and collapsed on the ground. My vision was beginning to blur and I felt like I was about to pass out. My heart was pounding almost painfully in my chest, and my lungs burned with lack of oxygen.

I began to close my eyes slowly when I heard a worried high-pitched girl voice scream my name. Lissa. She was here, most likely to help the injured Moroi, guardians and novices. Adrian must be around to help too.

I sensed someone drop to the ground beside me, and through the bond I knew it was Lissa. She was crying and scared out of her wits for me. I must look pretty close to dead if she is this worried about me. She pressed her hand to my cheek and I could feel her using spirit to heal me, the wave of magic travelling through her body to mine, even though I didn't think I needed to be healed. I wasn't that bad was I?

"Liss. Stop." I managed to croak out through my practically numb body. I opened my eyes, which was an effort let me tell you, and tried to focus them on her luminous green ones. "Go heal someone who needs it. I'm fine. Promise." I lied.

"I know your lying, you know. You're just trying to get rid of me and its _so_ not going to work, Rose." She remarked, emphasising on the 'so'. After my useless attempts to fend her off, I eventually let her heal me to a certain degree; well it was until I could breath without tearing up. Then I pushed her away and said the first thing that rushed to my mind.

"Dimitri."

"Calm down, Rose. He's in the med clinic, I heard them say he has a broken leg and possible bone fractures in his hands. Along with the bite mark that looks more like a gaping hole in his neck, I think there might be some more broken bones to be found. He looked really bad. What happened?" she asked the last part in a quiet whisper, trying not to attract attention from the other surrounding people as I sat up.

That was it. I let the tears I had been holding back go. I cried out all the terror I had felt when I saw the blond Strigoi sink his fangs into Dimitri's neck. I cried because I had to lie to Lissa about our secret relationship, I cried about everything - the pain, the loss, the lies, and my fears. All of it.

During my breakdown, Lissa just hugged me tight and promised me everything would be all right. When she knew better. I could feel her doubts through the bond, I could feel that she was scared for her own safety as well as mine, Christian's and all the other people who were a part of this never ending war.

That thought sobered me up straight away. I let my moment of weakness scare Lissa and make her doubt how safe she was. I pulled back and grabbed her shoulders firmly, enough to show I was serious but not enough to hurt her. I stared her straight in the eyes and vowed.

"I will _never_ let anything hurt you. I will die before that ever happens, do you hear me, Vasilisa Dragomir?" I clarified.

Her only response was a sharp nod of her head as a few tears streaked down her beautiful pale cheeks. I shifted so that I was copying her kneeling position, but this time, I wrapped my arms around her slender figure and reassured her of all her fears. I was going to be her guardian and I needed to be strong, not an emotional wreck. I needed to be honest and not hide secrets from her. Part of it was being a good guardian, the other part was because I was her best friend and we didn't keep secrets from each other. I needed to tell her about Dimitri and I, I had too.

"I'm so sorry. Lissa, please don't get upset I didn't tell you earlier." I started in an almost inaudible whisper as I pulled away to look her in the eye. I swallowed down more tears; they had their chance before to come. No, I was done being weak.

"Tell me what, Rose?" Lissa asked just as softly. "Tell me what's wrong. I promise I won't get upset or angry. Just tell me, please."

God, I hate it when she begs.

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth at the exact same time my mother bellowed my name so loud that every person within a miles radius could have heard it.

"_ROSEMARIE HATHAWAY! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? WERE YOU TRYING TO GET EVERYONE KILLED? WHY IN THE WORLD DID YOU RUN BACK INTO THOSE DAMN CAVES? DID YOU HONESTLY HAVE A DEATH WISH?"_ She screeched at me.

Lissa's and my head snapped up to face my avenging mother. Right now I was scared of her, and apparently Lissa was too. I could feel her emotions through the bond. She was incredibly intimidated by my guardian mother and for me, the person my mom's anger was focussed on.

I was still kneeling on the ground when Janine Hathaway stormed her way over to me and ripped me off the ground by the back of my shirt and turned me to face her. Okay, screaming at me in front of nearly a hundred people was one thing. But making an even bigger scene just pissed me off. Big time.

"Huh, Rose? Where do you get off putting other people's lives in danger?" She asked, practically fuming.

_Who was she to say this? _"You didn't have to follow me! You could have run off with the others and left me! It was _my_ decision!" I snapped back. She was not the only person here with a bad temper. Like they say, _"like mother, like daughter."_

"Of course I followed you! You're my daughter, I couldn't just abandon you!" She argued back. I could see the hurt on her face. She was still my mother, she might not be perfect, but who is?

"You didn't have a problem doing that eighteen years ago." I struck low, which was clearly unfair. This was a different situation. I couldn't make decisions as a baby, but now I could. Not only that, but we were just starting to stand on level ground with each other. "What? Not your forte these days?"

She glared me down. "I couldn't look after you then, and you know it. So, don't you dare use that as an excuse, young lady! What in God's name don't you understand about 'retreat'? Is that too hard to comprehend in your pretty little head?" She barked at me.

I noted that she called my head pretty. At least I got a compliment along with the insult. Lissa felt sorry for me, especially considering my mom was making this so public. I also noticed that more people had been attracted to the commotion, including Adrian. Great.

This was getting to be too much, and I was at breaking point.

"I know what 'retreat' means! Its just another word for '_run away'_ or '_ditch'_ or '_abandon'_." I shouted making some words colder then others. But I was done with her judging me. "But I wasn't going to do any of those things to Dimitri! He needed us to help him! But apparently nobody felt it was there duty to even give him a second glance!" I aimed that one straight at her and saw her flinch. Good, serves her right.

"So you took matters in your own hands? Real mature Rose. It's nice to see my daughter can make smart decisions when necessary." Sarcasm filled the last part of her comment.

"It wasn't about me!" I screamed at her. "It was about him! Nobody deserves to die that way! And I wasn't going to let one of the best guardians out die because of a Strigoi attack! Especially one that could have been stopped!"

"There were other guardians who died fighting, Rose! Some nearly if not just as good as Guardian Belikov, what your excuse for that?" She questioned. She knew she had cornered me, but I wasn't going to let her push me around, and definitely not in front of basically the whole school. I straightened my back and told her the blunt truth.

"I saw guardians as they went down. I watched those Strigoi kill them within a blink of an eye." My voice had gone down noticeably, it was more of an indoor level now, but I put in as much pain and misery I could muster. "But I couldn't watch him die, mom." I whispered that last part, and I began to sound like I was begging. I knew Lissa could hear me, due to the fact she was about three feet behind me. Through the bond, I could feel her curiosity. **_What do you mean Rose? I can tell your not saying something._**

"You ran into a fight, without back up, or knowledge of what was going on. So quit telling me all your excuses and give me the truth. I'm sick of cover stories, so spit it out!" She demanded with her hands on her hips.

Fine. You asked for it. "You want the truth?! Well, here it is! You left Dimitri behind, and I couldn't just stand back and let him die!" I screamed straight at her, causing her to flinch again. And here comes the grand finale. "And you want to know why I went in there after him? _BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH HIM!_" I finished, which amazingly, I managed to make my voice even louder at the end.

My mother was speechless and looked at me incredulously. Like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. I couldn't handle everyone's eyes on me, so I ran for it. I didn't know where I was headed, but I needed to get away. I ended up at my dorm room.

I threw the door open and slammed it shut behind me, and then I turned and flung myself on the bed where I bawled my eyes out for literally hours. I couldn't believe I had just told everyone about Dimitri and me. How stupid am I? I'll get expelled for sure. Even worse, he'll get fired. I've completely screwed things up, mom's probably filling in Kirova about my little declaration, and how I'm irresponsible and how I let my emotions get in the way of my rational thinking. Which is true, but only when it involves the people I care about. I can make life saving decisions; I _have_ made life saving decisions.

I cried until my eyes ran dry, and I eventually passed out due to the exhaustion from today's horrible events.

* * *

Thankyouuu for reading!!! :D

**Review pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!!!! _or I'll hunt you down like a Strigoi!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_We have to get out of here, Rose." Dimitri looked me in the eyes. I could see all the fear and love he felt for me, he was scared for me. He looked exhausted, his shirt and neck covered in blood. "Rose! Run! Get out while you still can! Forget about me, I'll hold them off!" He yelled at my statue-like body._

_I couldn't move, I couldn't even answer him. I just stood there and looked at him. I looked into his beautiful dark eyes and my heart broke into a million little pieces. He wanted me to leave him for dead with uncountable amounts of Strigoi._

_The blond Strigoi that had bitten him stood up behind him and lunged at Dimitri. The Strigoi managed to flip him so they were face-to-face before Dimitri's back hit the ground. He pulled his arm back that had a hand already formed into a fist, and began pounding hate filled punches into the love of my life's perfect face. I watched this happen right before my eyes and didn't even attempt to stop it. As I watched, I noticed the sounds the blond's fist were making sounded more and more like knocks on a door…_

I bolted upright in my bed gasping for air. The sheets were tangled between my legs that were still in the jeans I wore yesterday. I guess I forgot to change before falling asleep last night. Somebody was pounding on my door impatiently and I threw off the sheets and scrambled off the bed. I got to my feet and raced to the door, not knowing who to expect.

Alberta was definitely not someone I was expecting to see, that's for sure. My face must have shown my surprise because she spoke.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" she asked looking slightly awkward; at least I wasn't the only one. I shook my head and tried not to make it obvious that I was fixing my presumably unattractive bed hair. I had a hair tie on my wrist so I scraped my hair into a messy ponytail, and rubbed the sleep from my no doubt, red eyes.

She accepted my answer and continued with what she had to say.

"Rose, I think we need to talk. About yesterday." She said with an apologetic look, which considering it came from her startled me. I mean this is Alberta we're talking about here, head of the guardians at St. Vladimir's.

I took a step back to let her step inside my dorm room, motioning for her to take a seat on my unmade bed. She did, but looked slightly uncomfortable in her place. I closed the door and sat down on the bed a few feet from her and stared at my hands lying limp in my lap. Before she started talking, I quietly said, "I'm sorry."

Alberta stretched her arm towards me and using her calloused gentle hand, tilted my chin up so I was looking her in the eye. "Yes, you made mistakes. But you, Rose, are the person who saved Dimitri's life. Do not be sorry about that. It's true, that if we let our emotions get the better of us, we make errors. We don't think correctly." She explained. She paused, obviously deliberating how to say something. "I watched the confrontation between Guardian Hathaway and yourself. I don't agree with the way she approached you, considering the motive behind your decisions during the attack were personal. She unfortunately found that out a little too late, resulting in the matter becoming voiced publicly."

My only response was to nod my head. I didn't have anything else to say, she felt sorry for me. Maybe I looked as bad as I felt, on the inside and the outside.

"Rose, you did a brave thing, and I'm sure Guardian Belikov is undeniably grateful. Believe it or not, but I have been in your position before." She stated. Okay, wow. Did she just say she has been in a situation like mine before? Do I want to hear this?

"I was younger of course. Twenty-three actually. I met another guardian by the name of Nathaniel Blake, who had been assigned to protect my Moroi's wife. In the beginning we were just good friends that gradually over two years grew to be more. I use to look at him the exact same way you look at Dimitri. I see the adoration in your eyes when he's around you. You listen to him and never complain, and for Rose Hathaway that's a first. The short amount of time I've known you, you have complained about all of your teachers and been complained about by your teachers. But never by Dimitri, and the same with you. It made me suspicious, so I watched how you two react and respond. When I realised your relationship, I never interrupted because I watched you push your feelings aside and remain professional."

"You almost make it sound like we're not in trouble." I said quietly.

"You're not, Rose." She answered simply.

"But- I thought- Dimitri's going- aren't I getting-" I stuttered.

"Rose, stop." I did. "You never let me finish my story." In reply I just nodded my head and met here aging eyes. "Nathaniel and I, well, we never got to be a proper couple. About a week after things started becoming romantic between us, there was a Strigoi attack on the mansion. I managed to defend the Moroi, but the Strigoi took him and his body was found a few days later dumped in a river." I froze. As she told the story I envisioned me in Alberta's position and Dimitri in Nathaniel's. I just couldn't manage the last part, the ending. No, not my Dimitri.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I looked up at Alberta who had a far off look on her face, most likely reminiscing the unforgettable memories they shared. I had no control over my body as I shuffled over to her and threw my arms around her and hugged her tightly. I could feel her defences go up at my unexpected actions, but once she realised she returned the gesture. We stayed like that for a few seconds until she pulled back; I did the same and put the distance between us again on the bed. She looked at me and I almost couldn't believe my eyes. She had tears in her eyes; it made me want to cry. A single tear escaped and trailed slowly down her left cheek. She wiped it away quickly and gave a little sniff; she held her head high and immediately went into guardian mode trying to hide all emotion.

"I don't want or need an explanation of your relationship, Rose. I just need you to remember, we are guardians. Our job is to protect Moroi or die trying. We live to die; it's the blunt truth. Don't forget, '_they come first_' is rule. Break it and you put others lives at stake. I'm not saying you can't be together, aside from the fact he's one of your teachers; we'll talk about that in a second." She said sternly with a frown. _Just dandy_.

"If your going to be Lissa's full time guardian, you need to be completely devoted to her."

"But me and Dimitri have talked about that a million times. We even have a plan thought out. He's going to be reassigned to another Moroi at Court, they're more flexible with their schedules so Lissa will be guarded and we'll get to spend time together as well." I told her hoping she'd except it and move on.

She looked at me, contemplating my answer. About a minutes silence went by with her just looking at me while she thought, I on the other hand was looking anywhere but at her. After endless silence she sighed and dropped that issue.

"Now. Your mother, Headmistress Kirova and myself had a discussion about how we were going to handle your situation. After debating whether to expel you, or remove Guardian Belikov from the grounds, or punish just him due to the fact that he is the adult. But your mother brought up the fact that you're eighteen in a week or so, meaning you're legally an adult." She stated matter-of-factly. Well no-_duh_.

"We made a decision." That's all she said.

I just sat there with a confused expression. Didn't she know that I only know what's going on in Lissa head; I'm not actually psychic, just bonded and shadow-kissed.

As if sensing my confusion on her vague answer she clarified.

"Our decision is to let you two continue what you have started, all things considered; you're an adult in the near distant future, before you proclaimed it in the company of a majority of the academy it remained behind closed doors, you saved his life and, well, you're Rose Hathaway and nothing stops you from doing anything." She said dryly. She had a point.

"He seems to have a positive effect on you. Your making your way to the top of your combat class, math and history could use a little work, but since you returned and met Guardian Belikov your grades have improved significantly according to previous years."

She was right. I was the best in my combat classes, which had it's high points like being a kick-ass fighter, but it's low points were that it meant little competition. I'm not saying that they were all bad fighters; they're great, just I'm better. Math and history, who needs those subjects anyway?

Then it hit me.

"Are you saying we aren't getting in trouble _at all_?" I questioned.

"Yes." She's starting to sound like Dimitri.

There had to be a catch. "What's the catch?" I asked in a suspicious tone.

"There are none. Rose, we're putting our trust in you. We believe you will grow up to be one of the best guardians the world has ever seen. We want to see what you have to offer, so we are going to give you some freedom. All we ask is that you improve your grades slightly and keep your relationship private like you have previously. In saying this, you do not have to deny it, just don't flaunt it in front the other students. Keep all gestures of the romantic kind away from Moroi and novice eyes."

With that she stood up and started heading for the door. I jumped to my feet at ran up behind her. "Alberta, wait."

She turned and faced me.

"Thankyou. Thankyou for everything you said and did. You have no idea how much respect I have for you and your lectures." I smiled at her. She returned the gesture slightly and nodded, then turned to leave again but stopped.

"Oh, and by the way. I went and checked on him last night after they got him cleaned up. He's fine. The only injuries he obtained were a broken leg and some nasty bruises. He's on crutches, and from a report I got this morning, they should release him later today. Headmistress Kirova spoke to him as well, and no doubt Guardian Hathaway will too after she sees you. She wants to apologize." And with that she left.

I stood there staring at the closed door with my mouth hanging open. Did that all really just happen?

"I really need a shower to wake me up." I mumbled to myself and walked in to the bathroom, straight to the shower.

*******

I was letting the hot water rinse the vanilla scented conditioner out of my now clean hair as I ran my fingers through it. I was enjoying the silence and flying on a huge cloud of relief. Dimitri wasn't getting fired. And I wasn't getting kicked out. People knew about us and didn't care; well the people who matter didn't care. I still have to talk to Lissa about everything and explain it all to her. She probably won't want to talk to me and I didn't want to use the bond to see how she feels about everything, I hate invading her privacy. I might go see her after my shower.

I heard another knock at my door. Does my door have a sign on it saying 'EVERYBODY VISIT ROSE' or something? Why does everyone want to bother me?

I turned off the hot water reluctantly and grabbed my towel off the rack and wrapped it tightly around my body. As I made my way to the door I left little puddles of water that I'll most likely slip on when I go back and I'll end up in the infirmary.

I pulled the door open to the unwelcome visitor with an annoyed expression on my face.

"Wow, little Dhampir. How did you know I was visiting?" Adrian asked slyly as he looked me up and down as he leant against the doorframe. "You didn't have to dress up for me, well, more correctly undress for me." He smiled obviously pleased with himself and my lack of clothing.

"Oh, please. Like I'd do this for you." I waved my hand at my body wrapped in a white bath towel. "Now, what do you want Adrian? Seeing as you rudely interrupted my shower." I scowled him.

"Can't I stop by to say 'hi' anymore?" he asked trying to play innocent. His emerald green eyes sparkled playfully. This action would be cute if it came from anyone other then him; from him it seemed pathetic.

"Fine. Hi, now goodbye." I did a shooing motion with one hand a started closing the door with the other. He put a hand up to stop the door and chuckled.

"I haven't said 'hi' yet." He said in that annoying cocky tone and crooked smile he always uses on me.

"_Adrian_." I whined. I groaned and stomped my foot. I actually _stomped my foot_, like a five year old.

He laughed a little harder at my response, then pushed past me and went to lie down on my still unmade bed.

"I don't remember inviting you in, Ivashkov." I said slowly, warning him.

"You did. Don't worry I won't make a mess, you seem to have handled that job yourself." He said looking around my messy room. I haven't really had much time to do any cleaning, what with the attack on the school and the rescue mission.

"Ugh. I'm going to get dressed. Don't even think about peeping, or I'll claw your eyes out and feed you to a Strigoi." I threatened him as I made my way over to my wardrobe to get clean clothes and underwear. "And I'm _so_ not joking." I clarified.

"I'm shaking with fear." He said sarcastically as he picked at his fingernails.

"Or worse, I'll tell Dimitri." I said with a wry smile looking back at him.

"Now that, Rose, is a better threat." He replied looking slightly shaken by the idea. "Fine," he sighed. "I have a great imagination anyway." He smiled deviously at me.

I rolled my eyes, walked back into the bathroom and slammed the door behind me.

I came back out ten minutes later in a white tank top and black skinny jeans with my hair tied up in a high ponytail, just the way Dimitri likes it. I smiled at that thought and of course Adrian being himself took that the wrong way.

"Glad you're happy to see me." He said in a cheery voice.

"For starters, I wasn't thinking of you. Secondly, why are you still here?" I asked.

I noticed that my bed was made now and my room looked a little more civilised.

"Did you clean my room?" I asked him where he sat on the edge of my bed; you could hear the surprise clear in my voice.

"Maybe." He answered with a smirk.

"If this is an attempt to get in my good books, it's not working." I said while I crossed my arms and leant against the wall near the door.

"Your welcome." He replied dryly. Then he stood up and headed for the door.

When he opened it I said, "Thankyou Adrian."

He stopped, smiled at me and kissed my cheek quickly. When I started to complain he laughed and said, "anytime gorgeous." And shut the door behind him.

I turned and leant against the door and sighed. Adrian really takes the energy out of me sometimes.

I decided that I better see Lissa.

I put on some killer black boots and shut the door behind me as I headed for Lissa's dorm. When I reached her door I knocked three times. I stuffed my hands in my pockets as the door opened, and I was presented with none other then morbid Romeo.

"What do _you_ want?" Christian glared at me.

Might as well stir him up a little while he's here.

"Well, that's a hard question really when you think about it. I mean when I was little I wanted a pony, but I never had enough money to buy one. And I have no intention of cleaning up after it, so that's a no go zone. But there are these really awesome shoes-" I never got to finish that sentence because he shut the door in my face.

I knocked again, and he answered again.

"We're not interested in what you're selling." He said in an irritated voice without looking at me and tried to shut the door again, I managed to stop it this time. He looked at me then and his glare was colder then last time.

"I need to talk to Lissa." I spoke in my serious voice.

"And I need a new watch, but we don't always get what we want." He said sarcastically. Okay, now this is starting to get irritating.

"Don't push your luck, Ozera. I'm not in the mood for your protective boyfriend attitude. I need to speak to Lissa." I warned him.

"Rose, did it ever occur to you that she might not want to speak to you at the moment?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Christian," I said patiently with a sweet smile. "Did it ever occur to you that less than twenty-four hours ago, I killed four adult Strigoi in under a minute?" I asked in a sweet voice. "So, one hot-headed teenage Moroi is seriously nothing." I smiled again.

"Bring it, Hathaway." He dared as he lifted up his hands that were ablaze in golden flames. I could feel the heat radiating from him, towards me.

"Christian!" Lissa called from somewhere in the room, shortly followed by a door shutting. "Who is-" She began to ask, and then she saw me. "Uh. Hey Rose." She smiled awkwardly, but relief at seeing me flooded through the bond.

She walked up behind him and put her hand on his back. "Do you mind if me and Rose talk alone for while?" she asked him.

"Yes. I do mind." He answered still holding that pathetic glare.

"You better watch out, the wind might change." I alerted him. From behind him, Lissa giggled and I joined in too.

"Hilarious Rose." Christian replied sarcastically. He turned and faced Lissa; "I'll see you later." He gave her a quick goodbye kiss and pushed past me, making sure he bumped into me. "Oops. My bad." God, he loves his sarcasm as much as he loves Lissa.

I hissed like a cat in response.

As he was walking down the hall he yelled out my name. Without stopping he held up his left hand and let it burn like a torch.

"Will you two ever get along?" Lissa asked me once he was out of earshot.

"I hope not." I said honestly which made her laugh. "What?" I asked.

"Just picturing our lives when me and Christian get married and you're my guardian. It'll be like this every second of everyday, and you'll run out of material to insult him with." She explained between giggles.

"Liss. I'll never run out of material." I promised her.

"I guess we should talk then." She spoke in a sober voice.

"I think that's best." I agreed.

We walked into her perfect room and sat on her comfy bed facing each other a foot apart.

"So, when did this all start?" she asked gently.

I looked up and met her caring green eyes, I could see all the love, friendship and loyalty she felt towards me and I knew she knew I felt the same towards her.

"It pretty much started from day one when we got back to the academy. In the beginning I didn't like him, actually, I called him 'cheap foreign labour' to his face in Kirova's office." She gasped at my old insult towards Dimitri on our first day back. It was funny at the time, but now I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. "Anyway, it wasn't till he started mentoring me, that we got to know each other. I mean, he's always been attractive. Who am I kidding, I thought he was hot the second I laid eyes on him." I down right confessed.

"I guess he is attractive." Lissa agreed with a shy smile.

"I guess I can't help the way I look, can I?" I asked in a cocky tone.

"Rose, one day someone is going to not call you gorgeous and you will be devastated." Lissa countered.

"Fifty bucks that never happens." I bargained with her.

"Deal." She said and stuck her hand out to shake. I shook it, even though I don't have fifty bucks.

"Back to the story. It only started to get physical one day in practice; he had me pinned against a wall when we were fighting. He didn't back off straight away and I couldn't help myself, he was so close and I really wanted to kiss him. So I did." I explained. "He actually kiss me back to begin with, then he pushed me away and told me to never do that again. It's a lot easier said then done. We tried to push away our feelings; one, you need two guardians completely dedicated to protecting you. Two, he was my mentor and I was his student. And three, people don't approve of guardians having relationships, but we didn't care about that." I said truthfully. "You know, he turned away Tasha's offer because he realised he loved me and that he couldn't pretend he didn't. He stayed for me, to be with me." I smiled thinking about that night.

"How far did you guys go?" she asked carefully, checking if it was safe ground to tread on. "Did it go any further then kissing?"

I met her eyes and nodded. She nodded in reply.

"Only once though, it happened in the cabin after he pulled me away from Jesse. When he was torturing you, Alberta told him to get me cleaned up and I was going nuts because I took the bad spirit from you. He's like my antidote, him being there calmed me down." I smiled again thinking of another great memory me and Dimitri shared.

"He makes you smile just thinking about him." She stated watching me smile like an idiot.

"Can you read my mind now?" I asked jokingly.

She laughed and said, "I can see it now Rose. I see the effect he has on you." She told me. She paused for a bit then asked in a quiet voice close to a whisper, "Why didn't you tell me, Rose? I feel like you don't trust me anymore."

"Liss, of course I trust you. You're my best friend, the only reason I didn't admit it was because I couldn't even admit it to myself. If anybody knew, if it leaked out by accident, he would have been fired and I would have been expelled. I couldn't do that to you, Lissa. We can't. That's why when the school year finishes he's getting reassigned to somebody at Court. They are more flexible with their guarding schedules, so I can be your guardian and spend time with him too." I explained our plan for the not too distant future.

I could feel guilt through the bond, as if Lissa felt responsible for us going through all this trouble.

"Lissa, this isn't your fault. None of this." I told her.

"But I feel partly responsible, Rose." She said in all honesty.

"It isn't, we chose this." I reassured her.

"That's it. When I become Queen, I'm giving Dhampir's more rights to live freely." She declared.

"You have my vote." I promised, which got a cheerful giggle out of her.

She closed the distance between us and hugged me tight. I hugged her back glad we talked this out.

"No more secrets, Rose. Promise." She whispered in my ear.

"No more secrets." I promised.

We broke apart and she sighed.

"Well, now that that is sorted, I can tell you about the break." She confessed.

"What break?" I asked confused. The school's having a break?

"Yeah, parents are flying in to pick up their kids because of everything that has happened at St. Vladimir's over the last couple of days. We're getting a week break to relax and calm down. Tasha invited Christian and me to come and stay with her for the week. I was wondering if you wanted to be one of the guardians watching us?" she asked looking doubtful.

"Liss, I love you and all, but Christian _and_ Tasha? Do you want me in jail for murder?" I asked incredulously.

"_Rose._" She warned. She didn't like it when I said this kind of stuff. "I'll take it as a 'no' then."

"Then you would be correct." I praised her.

"You should spend the week with Guardian Belikov." She suggested. Actually, that's not a bad idea.

"Speaking of him. I have to go see him, I haven't seen him since I saved his nice butt." I said.

She laughed. "Go on then." She got up and opened the door, and practically pushed me out. She shut the door behind me while laughing.

"Love you, Liss!" I shouted through the closed door.

"Love you too, Rose!" she yelled back.

Then I started on my way in the direction of the med clinic.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I was sitting under massive old oak tree, leaning against the rough bark and looking up at the place I had called home for practically my whole life. It held so many stories and great memories, like when I met Lissa, and all the parties I would sneak out my door to attend, the adventures I had with my best guy friends Mason and Eddie, and where I found the love of my life. It also held some memories I would rather forget, like all the detentions I attained, all the petty fights I got in and won, all the deaths I witnessed and the time when Lissa lost herself in that big black hole of depression. Soon this would not be my home anymore. I would graduate and become Lissa's full time guardian and move to Court to protect her from whatever danger shows itself in front of _Guardian_ Rose Hathaway. I would no longer be a complicated sarcastic teenage girl, who was crazy about her mentor. I would be a guardian. A woman. A sarcastic woman – because its just the way I roll.

I went to visit Dimitri in the infirmary, which was weird for me being the visitor and not the injured one. I was lucky enough this time not to have hurt myself, which was nice for a change. But when I got there and spoke to the new nurse Dr Nightingale – after the attack the school asked for an extra doctor straight away to help the injured – she told me that he had already been released and allowed to leave as long as he did little physical activities for at least two weeks, so his body could rest and repair.

"You did an audacious thing, Miss Hathaway." She complimented me in a formal tone. "Guardian Belikov was fortunate to only sustain a broken leg and small fractures in his right hand. He'll definitely have some nasty bruises, especially over his ribs, but they should start to fade in a couple of days. Other then that he should be fine. I signed him out with a pair of crutches which he should depend on for at least 4 weeks, considering we heal quickly and he is a healthy young man." She concluded with a little nod of her head.

While she was talking I took in her features. It was difficult to tell by looking at her that she was Moroi, because her skin was a beautiful light golden glow that was rare to find in their race. My best guess was she came from an Italian bloodline with long black glossy hair that was neatly pinned in a bun at the back of her head. She had warm chocolate brown eyes that were comforting to look at and a very delicate facial structure. She was a few inches taller then me and appeared to be in her early twenties. _No wonder she thought Dimitri was a 'healthy young man', her mind was probably more like 'a healthy young incredibly attractive young man who I wouldn't mind scoring with.' If it was, she's a dead doctor. _Wow, I just got jealous over a doctor talking about him. Talk about possessive.

I felt bad about that thought after she said, "You're a very beautiful young lady, Rose. Dimitri is a lucky man to have you. While he was here, every few hours I would come in and check his vitals and wounds, he would ask about you. He wanted to hear that you were okay, he even made a joke about you surviving 'The Almighty Wrath of Janine Hathaway'." She giggled.

I laughed too, because Dimitri was absolutely terrified of my mother. Its kind of ironic considering he says I'm just likes her, although he can't resist me. But I'm so not complaining.

"Sorry I can't tell you where he is. My best guess is that he's in his room. I know you want to talk to him about your little incident." Her face flushed a rosy pink; she must feel embarrassed for bringing it up.

"Don't be embarrassed you brought it up, because you're right. I do, but I also just want to see him. Don't worry about not knowing where he is, I'll hunt him down." I smiled and gave her a small wave, and then I turned and left.

I checked his room but he wasn't there.

So I went for a walk around campus and ended up under this tree letting my thoughts and memories swamp me. It made all my emotions go nuts. I felt happy, sad, loved, guilty, scared, excited – everything you could possibly feel. Then I thought of Mason, and all our crazy adventures. One time, when we were about 12, Mase and I spread a rumour around the school saying, "Stan was gay and was dating another male guardian." It was a pathetic attempt at a prank, but everybody believed it. Stan practically worked us into the ground in one of our classes and refused to stop until someone fessed up and told him the rumour. Shane Ross was the traitor who turned us in and let Stan know what it was. The look on his face when he heard it was priceless and Mason and me were on the floor laughing so hard that we were in tears. We scored a week worth of detention for _disrespecting the teacher, _but it was so worth it. Stan hated us ever since then, well he hated me since then, and he forgave Mason and told him I was a bad influence. I don't think he realised it was his idea too.

I realised I had tears running down my cheeks while reminiscing over the past. I missed Mason so much it hurt. I know it was his decision to run back in, but I still felt it was my fault. I felt guilty for leading him on in his last few weeks; he was just my distraction while he really did have those feelings. Sometimes I can be a really horrible person.

No, what has happened has happened. You can't change the past, only the future.

"Rose?" called out a familiar voice a few metres away.

I turned my face up to look at the weathered sun tanned skin, the small but strong build, the fiery red wild curls, and the worried face of my mother, Janine Hathaway.

As I looked up at her, I realised how much I wished I could have grown up with her around permanently. I wondered if we would have gotten along better, if we would be closer. And then I burst into tears.

"Oh, Rose." She came and sat beside me and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly and reassuringly and motherly. It felt right. "I'm so sorry I yelled at you in front of all those people. I should have talked to you in private. I'm sorry." She continuously apologised.

I hugged her back and whispered, "I love you, mom." I can say I hate her all I want, but it will never be true. I love her and yeah, we fight and argue a lot, but she'll always be my mother.

"I love you too, Rose. More then you could ever imagine." She whispered into my hair.

It was silent for a few minutes and then she finally asked, "Why didn't you tell me? About you and Dimitri? Why didn't you say anything?"

I sighed. I was honestly sick of telling people the whole story of how it all began. But she needed to know.

"This is the last time I'm going to say all of this. So listen." I told her about how I just thought he was a good looking teacher, and how I started getting a crush on him, and how I noticed how hard he was trying to stay in guardian mode and hide his feelings. I told her about how we had our first kiss in the gym, and how he told me to never do it again. I confessed about how hard we tried to space between us and push aside our own attraction that we shared. I even told her about the lust charm necklace that Victor Dashkov gave me, and inevitably the cabin. I told her about our future plan and how we both agreed that Lissa deserved two guardians completely dedicated to protecting her and not each other.

She never interrupted me, which I really appreciated and she never let go of me. When I was done explaining I laid my head back against her shoulder, and for once I was glad she was here.

"I talked to him this morning." She said and left it at that.

"What about? Where was he? What did you say?" I asked wanting more of a response then what she gave me.

"In the medical clinic, just before they released him. We talked about you and he said he heard about what happened when we got back from the search. He said the exact same story as you did, so I know your not lying too me. Which is a first, I'll admit." She smiled down at me, and I laughed.

"I knew there was some kind of secret between you too. It was easy to tell you were trying to hide something, but I couldn't work it out. It never occurred to me that you might have feelings about him; I always thought you stuck to boys your age. But I know you can't help who you fall in love with, I still love your father." She said abruptly.

I pulled back a little to look at her face to see if she was being serious, and oh boy, she was. "Really?" I asked totally dumbfounded.

She nodded. "Do you know anything about him?" she asked.

"Not a lot," I said shaking my head. "Only that he's Turkish and according to the queen his name is Ibra-something." I said.

"Ibrahim. His name is Ibrahim, Ibrahim Mazur." She spoke the name with an undertone emotion I had never heard from her before. "Yes, he is Turkish. And you remind me of him a lot." She smiled.

Okay. This is a side of my mom I've never seen before.

"What parts about me remind you of him?" I asked out of sheer curiosity. I never really asked her about my father before. I guess I just pushed the thought of him away because it wasn't uncommon for Moroi men to disappear and leave Dhampir women to raise their children on their own.

"Well, he's a businessman, so he has a lot of influence over his colleagues. He's very good at using that in his turn, it makes him appear daunting amongst the other Moroi. And when he makes a decision, its useless trying to persuade him." She stated. "Oh, and you definitely get your sarcasm from him, not me."

"So your saying he's arrogant, sarcastic and likes intimidating people. I so don't-" Wow, this guy _is_ like me. "Do I look like him?" I checked.

"You have his eyes. Your hair is a shade lighter then his, though. Last time I saw him, he had a goatee and as tan a complexion a Moroi can have. He always wore a gold hoop earring in one earlobe." She described him with a thoughtful expression, "and he wears these beautiful cashmere scarves. If you met him, you'd definitely never forget him."

"So… do you know where he is at the moment? Do you keep in touch?" I was considering visiting him, I mean, he is my dad after all.

"Last I heard he was doing business in Russia. That was about three months ago; he calls every few months, to check how things are. He asks about you, how you're going. He was worried when you and Princess Vasilisa ran away." My mom told me.

"Mom, call her Lissa." I clarified.

"When you and Lissa ran away. Better?" she corrected herself.

I nodded and laughed. "You know, I think we're having a mother and daughter moment. Scary, huh?"

"Terrifying." And she made a mock-horrified face, which made me laugh harder. She joined in laughing too.

"We better enjoy this now while it lasts, because I don't think it will last forever." Honesty is always best, that's what one of Dimitri's Zen lectures taught me.

"For sure." She agreed. She laid her head on top of mine and sighed. We stayed like that for a few minutes, just looking at the old school, swimming in our own thoughts. Hers were most likely about my father and mine were about Dimitri.

"I approve." She said quietly in the calm silence.

"Huh?" What did she approve of?

"Of Dimitri. I approve of you being with him. He's a loyal and hard working guardian, and on top of that he has an effect on you. You listen to him and I've never heard you complain about him. He's good for you; he's trained you well. I've met him before he came to St. Vladimir's, and he was never as happy or confident as he appears now. I guess you have a good effect on him too."

Relief flowed through me. The three people who's opinions matter most to me didn't have a problem with me being in a romantic relationship with Dimitri.

"Thankyou." I replied. "I know a lot of people aren't going to like us being together, it's practically forbidden." I said in an annoyed voice.

"When has somebody saying something is 'forbidden' ever stopped you?" she asked sarcastically.

"Wow, did you just attempt at a joke? What's going to happen next?" I joked.

"Shut up." She laughed and playfully smacked my arm, which kind of hurt in all honesty. "I have to go, I have a meeting with Alberta in ten minutes."

She pulled her arms from around me and stood up, wiped the dirt from her pants and stroked my hair. Then she turned and headed towards the guardian office. After about ten steps, she turned back to me. "Try the chapel." And then she continued walking.

I knew she meant that was where Dimitri was, but I suddenly became doubtful. What if he was mad at me for screaming everything before the eyes of hundreds of Moroi and Dhampir students, and his fellow guardians? What if I ruined his reputation? I didn't care about mine at the moment, but I'd hate to be the reason he lost his high profile.

_Get a grip, Rose. This is Dimitri we're talking about. Selfless, loving, forgiving Dimitri._

I shook my head and stood up. I was acting childish and letting my personal fears get to me. I started making my way over to the chapel; my eyes were focussed on the ground in front of me while I thought about the possible outcomes that might happen when we see each other.

The campus was practically deserted due to all the students leaving for a week break spent with family and loved ones. The environment around me was soothingly quiet and at that particular moment, safe.

As I drew closer to the little church, I lifted my eyes to see a figure sitting on a bench chair next to the chapel. I kept the same pace so I didn't get the person's attention, just in case they didn't want to be disturbed. But in the moonlight, I finally made out the figure. It was Dimitri. My heart started racing, butterflies soared inside my stomach and I noticed my breathing speed up.

He was looking down at his hands on his lap, but when he sensed someone approaching he snapped his head up and his gorgeous dark eyes met mine.

"Roza…" he breathed my name like his own personal prayer. Like it would make everything that ever went wrong better.

He lunged to his feet and without his crutches; he started hobbling over to me, going as fast as his injured leg would take him.

I sprinted over to him and collide into him almost painfully. But I didn't care; while I was in his arms it was only he and I. My arms were wrapped tightly around his rock hard torso as tightly as I could manage. I never wanted to let him go ever again. His arms were around me too, like a cage, not letting me move at all.

He was stroking and murmuring my name into my hair, talking softly in Russian.

He pulled back slightly, and as I turned my head up to look at him, his lips came crashing down on my own. A sigh escaped from my lips at the same time as his, in pure bliss. His mouth was warm and gentle and eager. His large strong hands were memorising my face and caressing my neck, one of his hands removed the hair tie that was holding up my ponytail and weaved its way into my hair, holding my face secure to his. His tongue was soft as it explored my mouth, when they met I let out a small moan I couldn't hold back which he returned. The kiss gradually built in speed and strength and depth, and after what seemed like an eternity of making out we broke apart to breathe.

We never let each other go, continuously touching each other, making sure everything was real; we were real. When I could manage my voice I quietly said, "You shouldn't be standing without your crutches, the nurse said so."

I let go of my grip around his waist and tried to lead him back to the bench, only he didn't budge, he kept looking down at me with love and relief and desire in his eyes. "Come and sit down and you can look at me like that all you want, Comrade." I smiled my man-eater smile at him and started lugging him over to the bench seat. He gave me that crooked smile that made my heart stop, then reluctantly did what I said and collapsed on the seat with a little groan from the pain.

I sat next to him and snuggled into his side. "I was so worried about you. You were the only coherent thought running through my head when I was fighting, I needed to know you were alright, and when you never came out I didn't even think, I just ran in." Tears were rolling down my cheeks; he leant down and kissed them and their little trails away.

"That was the stupidest thing you ever did, worse then running away with Lissa." He said sternly, "but I love you so much for it… thankyou." And then he kissed me again, harder this time.

We stayed like that for a while, completely and utterly content.

When we finally broke apart he hugged me to himself, and just held me in our comfortable silence. After a few minutes I couldn't hold back.

"I'm sorry I screamed it out in front of the whole school." I apologised. I knew he knew what I was referring too. My little declaration of love.

He chuckled and it vibrated through his chest where my head lay. "Don't be. They were bound to find out sooner or later. If they hadn't dragged me to the infirmary straight away, I would have kissed you in front of everyone and wouldn't have given a damn what they thought. Rose, you saved my life." He spoke it in such an awed voice, like he couldn't believe I did it, like it was impossible.

"I wasn't going to leave you in there. I had to save you, without you I'd be lost. That's worse then dead; Lissa's bad spirit would devour me without you here to help me. I know you would have done the same thing for me. I need you Dimitri, and I love you." I let my voice fill with emotion to give it more meaning, I looked into his dark eyes, and they said the exact same thing as mine and just as strong.

He looked excited all of a sudden. "Guess what." He said in low voice that made his accent more prominent.

"George Clooney's gay?" I was just guessing random things, trying to make him laugh.

"What?" he asked looking at me with one eyebrow raised.

"You said 'guess what', so I did guess." I explained with a little smile.

"Well I don't know if he is, but that's not what your suppose to guess." He smiled back. God, I love it when he smiles.

"Um… you've given up the country obsession and decided to try Goth?" I teased.

"Thankfully, no. Keep guessing." He answered

"You're pregnant?" that made him laugh.

"Nope."

"You bought me a skimpy, tight costume to fulfil one of your fantasies about me?" This was going to be interesting. "Let me guess, it involves a cowboy hat and cow hide?"

"Don't I wish?" He replied honestly and chuckled softly. "Sadly, I didn't. Save that for another time." He said looking down at my body and running his hand up my thigh, teasingly.

I just sat there and let him touch me. I knew he's wanted to do it for so long, but always held it back, though now we've torn down our shields and let our feelings free. He put his mouth to my ear and whispered, "Give up yet?"

"Uh-huh." I gasped as his warm breath brushed against my neck.

"You're coming with me to Russia." He said, pulling back to look at my face.

I could feel my face light up with excitement. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely." He assured me with a smile on his beautiful face. "I told your mother and Alberta this morning, and I spent today organising plane tickets and telling my family I'm coming home to visit with a surprise. We leave tomorrow night."

"Oh, my God. You're freakishly perfect." I said full of awe.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He replied.

"So you should, Comrade." Then I jumped up and straddled him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and said, "Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou!"

He snaked his arms around me and said, "Your always welcome."

The sun was starting to come up, which meant it was getting late and nearly time for curfew. It was annoying how they still pushed curfew even on weekends and during breaks.

"I better take you to your dorm before we get in trouble." He mused.

I laughed. I climbed down off his lap and helped him up along with handing him his crutches. He walked me back to my dorm building first and gave me a sweet kiss goodnight, which lingered a little longer then most goodnight kisses do.

"I'll come by your dorm room tomorrow and help you pack if you want." He offered.

"Okay." I stood on my tippy-toes and gave him a peck on the cheek, then turned to go inside.

Before I even took my first step, he gave me light spank on the butt, and purred with his accent, "See you in the morning." Then he disappeared in the direction of the guardian's dorm.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, took a deep breath to steady my weak knees, and headed straight for my bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was 8:36 am according to the human world. Dimitri was asleep in the seat next to me on the airplane in his trademark leather duster that I was sure it had to be surgically removed from his body because he wore it so often. It was a relief to see him asleep after what seemed like our never-ending flight, well actually, our fourth flight. We'd gone from Missoula to Seattle to Amsterdam to Moscow and now our final stop in Novosibirsk, Russia. It felt like I'd been flying through the sky for just over thirty hours and my legs were starting to feel numb, so I got up out of my seat that was numbered '74', carefully slid past Dimitri's sleeping form because he had the isle seat and made my way over to the small bathroom cubical to freshen up.

I used the toilet, washed my face and mussed with my hair until it finally look half decent. Once I was finished in the tiny bathroom I managed my way back to my seat scoring yet another glare from the blond bimbo air hostess who had attempted to flirt with Dimitri when we got seated on the plane. She wasn't too happy to see me holding his hand, but then again he's my boyfriend, not hers. _Is he my boyfriend?_

I skilfully squeezed back into my seat while not knocking Wannabe Cowboy's healing leg. I plonked down in my chair and looked around aimlessly. I was bored for not the first time on this trip, and I needed some entertainment since I didn't feel like talking to strangers who most likely spoke fluent Russian considering that's where we were headed.

Dimitri shifted slightly in his silent slumber and the book he had been reading fell out of his jacket where it had been stashed.

"Might as well. Got nothing better to do." I mumbled to myself and picked up the book from the gap between the seats.

Without further due, I opened the Wild West book and started reading it. I don't really know if it counted as reading, more like skimming the text for interesting parts.

It was about some guy who roamed the Wild West like a free spirit and rode a horse called Firefly. The character blabbered on and on about how the horse was amazing and fast and unstoppable and blah, blah, blah. I hated this book already. How the hell does he like this made up crap? Honestly, sometimes I just feel the need to grab his shoulders and shake some sense into him.

Aside from the main characters infatuation with the damn horse and falling in love with a younger Native American Indian woman called Rain, it had an okay storyline, and of course a happy ending. Typical.

"You make that look painful to read." Dimitri spoke softly into my ear and kissed my hair.

I managed not to jump and turned my face up to his. I hadn't even noticed that he woke up, even when he moved to talk into my ear; he still hadn't caught my attention.

"I seriously don't see what you see in these books." I confessed, I held the now closed book up with one hand and pointed at it with the other one.

"Then don't read them, problem solved." Smart-ass.

Proud of his little problem solving skills, he snagged the book back and pushed it back into one of the inside pockets in the old duster.

"Haven't you already read that one. I remember the cover from the other day, in my room." I said thinking about when he came to help me pack.

*******

There was a light knock on my door while I was packing my bags that I was planning on taking with me to Russia. Dimitri promised he would come around to help me pack.

I dropped the red t-shirt I was holding on my bed and made my way over to the door, I twisted the doorknob and was presented with my angelic best friend.

"Hey Liss." I greeted her, genuinely surprised by her unexpected visit. She'd been busy picking out a whole wardrobe full of clothes to take with her and Christian when they go to visit Tasha. _My favourite person in the whole world, _not_._

"Hi. I just wanted to say goodbye since me and Christian are getting picked up in about an hour by Tasha." She explained.

"Where are you guys gonna go anyway?" I asked. I didn't really care, but I wanted to know where Lissa was just in case she got in trouble and I had to come and save the day.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure what the towns are called but, she wants to take us to a couple of places in Europe. And she was going on and on about this town in Russia." She shrugged. "I don't care where we're going. I'm just excited I'm going." She smiled.

"I might see you there." I added with a mischievous smile. Lissa looked at me as if I had a third eye. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes were fixed intently on me.

"What are you hiding?" she asked, her head full of suspicion. At least the bond thing is still one way; I don't think Lissa could handle what goes on in my head.

"You know how you so cleverly suggested I spend the week break with Dimitri? Well my darling royal friend, I am." I answered in a mock sophisticated English accent. She still looked lost, but I could feel her happiness for me. That happiness gave me a huge amount of reassurance that she was actually okay with everything between Dimitri and me.

"Still lost here buddy." She said honestly. "What are you talking about, Rose?"

"He's taking me with him while he visits his family in Russia." I said smiling. Just the thought made me happy and excited. Not just because I was going to another country, mostly because I get to spend a _whole week with him_.

"OH MY GOD!" she squealed and jumped on me and hugged me while she kept jumping. It was rather awkward and uncomfortable, until I joined in.

"Rose you're so lucky!" she said when she finally stopped jumping; she was a little breathless after her attack. "I really am happy for you two. I want you to know that, okay. You don't have to hide things from me anymore. You can always trust me. Promise."

"I know I can trust you Liss. We're best friends for crying out loud." I hugged her again to show her I appreciated everything that she was telling me. "No more secrets I promise." I told her. "If you want me to be reeeally open, I could tell you what Dimitri's like-" She was laughing and had a hand clamped over my mouth to smother the rest of my sentence. God, I love her.

"If you tell me about him, I'll tell you about Christian; and I know you don't want to hear about him." She laughed.

"Trust me." I said dryly, "I don't need to _hear_ about him, I've already witnessed it second-hand." That made her flawless pale cheeks turn dark pink. I'm glad I said 'witnessed' instead of 'experienced', that wouldn't have ended well.

"Sorry." She mumbled, clearly embarrassed about her and Fire Boy's romantic getaways I just can't seem to avoid.

"Don't worry about it." I assured her easily. "Just means expect pay back from me and Dimitri." I added evilly.

She looked alarmed then.

"Anyway. Have fun with Christian and _Tasha_. I'll talk to you somehow while we're apart." I gave her a tight hug.

She hugged me back and said, "You too, with Dimitri and his family. Tell them I say 'hello'."

I nodded as I let her go, just in time to hear someone knock on my door.

I looked up to see _my_ lover boy standing in my doorway looking a little uncertain; maybe he thought he was interrupting?

"Hey." I smiled up at him. Lissa laughed at my reaction while he smiled back. I turned to her and whispered, "Now you know what it's like watching you around Christian."

"That's my cue to leave." She said loud enough for Dimitri to hear. She leaned over and kissed my cheek, "Don't get into too much trouble while your gone." She joked.

"_Yes, mom._" I replied sarcastically. "_Love you, mom._"

"Love you too, my little Rosie Poo." She cooed in that annoying baby voice mother's use, as she started walking out of the door and closed it behind her.

Dimitri chuckled at our little exchange and walked over to my bed and sat down on the edge. Without his crutches and no sign of the cast that was there last night, I might add.

"What happened to your latest fashion statement?" I teased pointing at his leg. "What? Broken badass not working for you?" I walked over to bed and stretched out on the top laying on my back.

Dimitri turned and crawled over until he was looking down at me, his body hovering above mine. He bent down and barely brushed his lips against mine, even though it was a small touch, it sent electricity screaming through my body.

"Hi." He whispered, his lips less than an inch away from mine.

My breathing was uneven, my heart slamming in my chest and my body was begging for him to touch me, but I wanted to hold my ground and test my so-called 'control'.

"The leg, Comrade." I breathed. It was the best I could do. My head was swimming because of the smell of his skin.

He moved to lie on his side and face me. "Lissa came by earlier in the morning and begged to fix it. I eventually gave in, but I didn't let her fully heal it. That explains the limp." His hand came up and stroked the hair off my face.

I turned so I was facing him, and moved forward to give him a slow and gentle kiss. His arms pulled me closer and his hands began to roam my back and the back of my legs. I shivered with pleasure when his hand moved up under my shirt and our skin made contact; it felt amazing. My hands were in his hair, trying to secure his face to mine as close as they could be.

After about five minute of sucking each other's tonsils, I pulled away to breathe. He was gasping for air but was already coming back for more. I laughed and asked, "Haven't you had enough yet?"

He seemed dazed; his eyes were clouded with desire and lust. "Roza. I'll never have enough of you." He practically purred in a husky deep voice making his sexy Russian accent more prominent. His lips found my neck and I gasped when I felt his hot tongue against the sensitive skin.

"Whoa, there Cowboy." I said in an unsteady voice and started to pull away, or else instead of packing clothes to wear in Russia, I'd be taking my clothes off.

He groaned and pulled away. "Tease."

That made me laugh. "You love it." I replied.

"I know. That's the problem." He said smiling.

"I have to pack. You can help, or watch, or whatever you feel like doing that doesn't involve me physically." I clarified, and kissed his cheek making sure to take a deep breath of his clean aftershave. "By the way, you smell great."

He chuckled and shook his head slightly. Then he pulled out a novel from nowhere, and began reading while I packed.

*******

"I wasn't really paying attention to the book; I kept getting distracted." He smiled his heartbreaking smile and I think I slid down my seat a little, like I was melting. Pathetic, I know.

"Oh. And what was this supposed 'distraction' you talk of?" I new he was referring to me, but I was still getting use to this new laid back, flirtatious Guardian Belikov.

"Well, she's gorgeous for one thing. Beautiful long dark hair, irresistible dark eyes, addictively soft lips. And her body, there aren't even words to describe her flawless body." He leaned over towards me and softly kissed my 'addictively soft lips', and when he pulled away I checked to see if air hostess was watching.

She was, and she looked even more jealous.

Haha, sucker.

"Jeesh, this chick sounds like some real competition. Oh well, I'll take her; bring it bitch!" I joked.

Dimitri laughed and his fingers found mine and weaved themselves together. He put his lips to my ear and whispered my three favourite words, "I love you."

I turned my face to his with a little smile, "I love you too." I gave him a soft kiss on his warm delicious lips, but was soon interrupted by Jealous Cow over the loud speakers.

"_Attention all passengers aboard Flight 772, Moscow to Novosibirsk. We will be beginning to land in about five minutes. We ask of you that you remained seated and please put on your seatbelts as safety regulations. Thankyou." _She finished.

The next hour was filled with the usual procedure of when a new flight arrives at its destination and all the annoying steps you have to go through. When we finally freed from the damn airport with our entire load of luggage, I followed Dimitri and we made our way to a parking lot where every sign was printed in Russian Cyrillic, so I just clung to Dimitri's hand and followed him to a black rental car. He must have booked ahead, no surprise there. Mr. Organized.

"Hop in. I'll put the bags in." He told me as he started towards the back of the Toyota.

"I call shotgun!" I yelled, and ran for front seat. I was just mucking around, and he knew it. I could hear his laughter as I shut the door behind me.

After the bags were in the cars trunk and some in the back seat, he started driving into the pretty countryside of Russia, headed for Baia.

He remained quiet, so I let him be. He was looking around as he was driving, most likely looking for changes that may have happened while he was in the U.S. I figured if I didn't talk, I could at least listen to music. I leant forward and turned on the radio and some country song was playing, I sighed, at least they were speaking English. I was about to change the station when I looked up at his face. This was his kind of music and I bet he'll never change. So I laid my head back and closed my eyes. I was jet lagged and relived to be on ground again. I was thinking about what his family would think of me, and eventually I fell asleep listening to gentle melody.

_I set out on a narrow way, many years ago._

_Hoping I would find true love_

_Along the broken road._

_But I got lost a time or two._

_Wiped my brow and kept pushing through._

_I couldn't see how every sign pointed_

_Straight to you._

_Every long-lost dream, led me to where you are._

_Others who broke my heart,_

_They were like the Northern Stars._

_Pointing me on my way, into your loving arms._

_This much I know is true_

_That God blessed the broken road._

_That led me straight to you._

_I think about the years I spent_

_Just passing through_

_I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you_

_But you just smile and take my hand_

_You've been there, you understand._

_It's all part of a grander plan_

_That is coming true_

_Every long-lost dream, led me to where you are._

_Others who broke my heart,_

_They were like the Northern Stars._

_Pointing me on my way, into your loving arms._

_This much I know is true_

_That God blessed the broken road._

_That led me straight to you._

_Now I'm just rolling home_

_Into my lover's arms._

_This much I know is true_

_That God blessed the broken road_

_That led me straight to you._

_That God blessed the broken road_

_That led me straight to you._

_

* * *

  
_

_**© Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts**_

_**READ AND REVIEW PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!**_

**any one have any suggestions on ideas they want to happen? let me know. :D  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Rose." Someone was gently shaking me, trying to rouse me from my sleep. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." Dimitri murmured from nearby.

I snorted in a very unlady-like way with my eyes shut tight. "You did not just call me that." I laughed.

"Woke you up, didn't it?" he said, a smile in his voice.

I cracked open my left eye and looked over at him. Yep, he was smiling all right. We were still in the car, going down a road in a small looking town similar to the ones in the more rural parts of North America like some of the suburbs in Louisiana.

"Where are we?" I asked as I reluctantly opened both my eyes so I could take in all my _extremely bright_ surroundings. I blinked a few times to get accustomed to the sudden light.

"We're about twenty minutes away from Baia. Did you want to get something to eat or take a rest stop? I need to get more gas, we're nearly empty." He replied.

As if on cue, my stomach growled hungrily. "I think you have you're answer, Comrade."

He laughed at sound and took a left turn into what looked like a small café. There were two tables set out the front with two chairs at each. Dimitri parked the car on the right side of the almost nonexistent car park and shut off the engine.

"I know I love your hair like that, but I'm not sure if you do. Or if you want anyone to see it like that." he commented like the sweet guy he was.

"Hey! Who said I wasn't up for reppin' the bed hair look?" I joked as I ran my fingers threw it, trying to smooth out all the knots and bumps. I pulled down the mirror that was folded up against the roof of the car above my head and examined my work. Not bad for a thirty second job.

"Ready?" he checked with a hand on the door handle.

I undid my seatbelt and turned in my seat so that my whole body was facing him. "No, not yet." I said and crossed my arms looking at him expectantly.

He looked at me with a confused expression and one eyebrow raised_. Damn, he has to teach me that, _I thought. "What?" he asked.

I lifted my right hand and curled my index finger, indicating to him to get his sexy Russian butt over here.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, but he did lean over towards me. I moved forward slightly and cupped his face. His left hand rested on the steering wheel while his right gripped my hip. Our faces were really close, his lips a breath away. I was going to make him come and get it, instead of just giving in.

I pulled away about a centimetre and came back again, only letting our lips just barely touch. I did this a couple of times, having fun with it. I felt his masculine body shiver; I smiled loving the reaction I was getting from my teasing. Suddenly his left hand was behind my neck yanking my forward causing our lips to crash together roughly.

He kissed me hard. His fingers bit into my hip where his hand sat. There was electricity screaming its way through my veins. It was better than any Moroi bite by a long shot.

I couldn't breathe; I didn't want too.

I was the first to break the kiss for once. I leant my forehead against his and we both gasped for air.

"Wow." I breathed. That was a great kiss.

"Serves you right. You were asking for it." He joked with an adorable lopsided grin. He lifted his hand and stroked my cheek.

"Was not!" I mock complained with a conniving smirk. "Okay, maybe a little."

He chuckled in response and pecked the tip of my nose.

"Come on. Let's grab something to eat." He said opening his door and jumping out.

"Fine." I said as I did the same and got out of the car, making sure I brought my disposable camera with me that Lissa insisted I took with me, so I could take photos on my birthday that was three days away. "But I was completely satisfied with kissing you, I mean you taste great."

I could see the smile he was trying to hide.

We walked inside the tiny café and the bells above the door jingled. There was an elderly couple sitting together drinking out of coffee mugs, and another woman with really short blond hair was eating some sort of cake while reading a magazine.

Okay. So I admit I was wrong when it came to picturing Russia. Sometimes it looked similar to America, in a good way, and sometimes it looked so much better. The temperature was in the forties and the sky was clear.

"I'll order. You go pick a table, inside or outside; your choice." Dimitri said and kissed the top of my head, then headed in the direction of a cash register.

I turned on my heels and walked back outside. I needed some fresh air and it was perfect weather, so why not enjoy it. I sat down and waited for Dimitri to come back.

About a minute later he walked out the door with two take away coffee cups and two bottles of cold water.

He set them down on the table, dragged the other chair around the table closer to me and sat down.

"I didn't know what you wanted, so I got two hot chocolates and two waters and its still morning so I ordered two plates of blini." He explained.

"Okay. One – I hate the fact your paying for everything. Two – what the hell is _blini_? And three – God, I love you." I finished my little rant and waited for him to say something back.

He smiled. "I'm paying for everything whether you like it or not. Blini are Russian pancakes, so relax. And…" he leant over and kissed my surprised lips. "I love you, too."

I smiled up at him and tucked a stray piece of his hair behind his ear. Then a second later a young guy in his twenties walked out holding two plates, one in each hand. The guy had black hair and a serious face, and to be completely honest, he was kind of ugly. I know that's insensitive, but when you have sex-on-legs sitting next to you with his hand on your thigh under the table, you seriously can't help yourself.

As if feeling my eyes evaluating him, he looked up and met my eyes. He froze for a second as if he recognised me, then a huge cocky smile spread across his face. _Here we go, Mr. All-Talk. _I smiled my man-eater smile and stared him right in the eye. He set the plates down on the table.

"Thanks." Dimitri practically grunted. I knew he was watching the little exchange and now he was most likely glaring the defenceless guy down. _I may need to buy him a muzzle, just for safekeeping._

"Yeah… thanks." I said softly, trying for seductive. I was so playing him, and loving every moment of it.

"Can I get you anything else?" he directed that question at me, but at the last minute he looked over at Dimitri just in case he hadn't pulled out a knife to try decapitate him with.

"We're fine." Dimitri growled. The guy took the hint and backed off, just about running inside for security. Smart move on his behalf.

"GGGGRRRRR!!" I growled trying to imitate him and ended in laughter.

"Real mature, Rose." He said dryly while taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"You're starting to sound like my mother." I glowered at him. I remember her saying the same thing to me after the rescue.

"You really didn't have to do that." he clarified as if I didn't get what he meant in the first place.

"I was just messing with him. Sometimes I can't help myself; and neither can you either." I smiled thinking about the stolen kisses we've shared.

He shook his head and sighed in exasperation and said, "You'll never change."

I poked out my tongue at him and replied; "You know that's not true, because I have changed. A lot. And I have a reputation to keep you know. But you don't have to worry about me being with other guys. I've got my eye set on you and I'm so not willing to give you up without a fight. _Literally_." I said seriously. "Good luck to anyone who's prepared to take on Rose Hathaway." I snickered. He didn't comment on that, just picked up his knife and fork. I knew he liked hearing me say that.

After that we hacked into our huge piles of blini and hot chocolates. Oh boy, it was good. I am officially a fan of it. Make that the number one fan. Scratch that, the number one fan from America. Better. I almost licked the bottom of the plate when I realised there was none left, but I remember Dimitri was watching me.

I looked up to see him put the last trace of his blini in his mouth, chew it, then swallow. But before he got the chance to lick the jam and cream from the corner of his mouth, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled his face down to my level, and licked it up for him. I ran my tongue from one corner of his mouth, along his bottom lip, and finished at the other corner. I looked up into his tender brown eyes and practically purred out a "Yum."

He smiled at me and let out a deep throaty chuckled, I could nearly feel the vibrations in his chest in the tiny gap between us. I'd never seen him smile so much or heard him laugh so much. It made me happy to see him so relaxed and cheerful.

I gave him a little grin and let go of my grip on his t-shirt.

He sat up and pulled out his wallet, put a tip down for the guy who served us (_probably a really small tip_), and stood up. "Ready to go? If we leave now and get gas, we can be in Baia in less then half an hour." He said holding out his hand to me.

"Sure." I took his hand and stood up. We walked to the car and he helped me in. once he was in himself, we headed to the nearest gas station, which was about five minutes away.

I sat in the car while he filled it. I was thinking to myself about how beautiful Russia really is, and how much I was looking forward to spend a week with him just being ourselves. Without my mother watching like a hawk. Without all the rumours that the school body was no doubt spreading about our teacher-student relationship. _Great, _I thought. That's just what I need; more gossip about Rose Hathaway. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I so didn't need to worry about those, at least not on my own anymore. Dimitri was in this just as much as me now; we'll just have to handle this together. Like a couple. Are we a couple? I mean, he says he loves me, we've had sex, we've planned out our own future; I just assumed that we were a couple.  
I'll have to talk to him about it, tonight maybe.

I was about to meet his family for the very first time.

Oh, my God. _I was about to meet his family for the very first time_.

What if they don't like me? I never cared when it came to my friends and their parents, but this was Dimitri's mother and sisters. I wanted these people to like me; I wanted them to think I was worthy of Dimitri.

I started to panic. I was starting to breathe heavily and squirm in my seat. My seatbelt felt like a rope restraining me, holding me down and I couldn't escape. Sweat started beading on my forehead; my mouth was starting to go dry and my hands shaking. I realized I wasn't just scared to meet his family; I was down right terrified.

The car door opened and Dimitri got in his seat. He plugged in his seatbelt and had the keys in the ignition before he realised what was happening to me.

He looked over at me, and his eyes widened with shock.

"Rose!" he exclaimed then cursed in Russian. He quickly turned the car off, ripped his seatbelt off and jumped out of the car. He had my door open in a second and my seatbelt was finally letting me free. He pulled me out of the car and lifted me up. He set me down on the hood of the car and grabbed my face with both of his big hands. My breathing was still going nuts and I was trying to compose myself, but it just wasn't working. I met his loving, caring eyes as he asked, "Roza, what's wrong?"

I just shook my head and gasped out, "I can't do it."

He looked confused. "Can't do what? Come on Rose. Deep breathes and calm down. You need to talk to me."

I did what he said and took some deep breaths, desperately trying to calm down. It took about a minute or two, but I eventually got my breathing under control and in a steady pattern.

"That's my girl." He murmured. "Now talk to me, what got you so worked up?" he asked in the gentlest voice I have ever heard him use. I loved the way he called me _his girl. _He was still cupping my face, but his hands were more relaxed, his thumbs stroking my cheeks.

I took another deep breath and looked into his eyes and told him the truth. "I can't do it." I repeated, and then I asked. "What if they don't like me? What if they don't think I'm good enough for you? I mean I'm teenage Drama Queen Rose Hathaway. I'm irresponsible, immature, rude, attitude fuelled, angst ridden, out spoken, act on instinct, trouble making – Rose." I finished. "They're going to hate me. You don't know how badly I want them to think I'm worthy of you. I want them to actually like me." I could feel the tears in my eyes starting to form.

"You mean my family?" he asked incredulously. The look on his face told me he thought I was insane. My only response was a small nod of my head, which caused a tear to run down my face.

"Rose. They are going to love you. I swear." He promised. "Just be you, the girl I feel in love with. The one that drives me crazy, the one that makes me laugh, the one that always puts others before her self. I want them to see who you really are; so be yourself."

He was standing in front of me; I had one knee on each side of him. I slid forward and wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him tight. I felt his masculine arms wrap around me and crush me to his body. I loved how protected I felt being in his arms; he really was my guardian angel.

"I swear you're an angel." I mumbled into his chest, his amazing scent wrapping around me.

"I heard that." He laughed. I could hear the rumbling sound in his chest, along with his soothingly steady heartbeat.

"Good." I said stubbornly, my face still pressed against his warm chest.

"You think you can make it?" he checked. "They really want to meet you. I've told them about you. My mother could hardly wait, she demanded I bring you the second I mentioned your name. I couldn't of course; you had school. But I didn't tell them I was bringing you with me this visit, I just said I had a surprise." He smiled. "You ready to surprise them?" he looked down at me waiting for an answer.

I pulled back a little and looked up at him. I kept my arms around him and took a deep breath. "I'll do it for you." I said.

I wanted to make him happy.

"I need you to do it for yourself as well." He said firmly.

"For us." I corrected. "I'll do it for us." I stretched and kissed him softly on his lips.

"I love you so much." He whispered in my ear as he hugged me again. After he let me go I slid off the hood of the car and open the passenger door. I buckled myself in and Dimitri did the same.

The drive into Baia was reasonably quiet. Dimitri had the radio on really quietly to some station playing foreign music, probably Russian, and he never let go of my hand. That idea made me feel better, just knowing that he will be there made me relax.

As we approached the center of town, I realized a myth I'd been told was just that, a myth. People always talked about blood whores living in camps or communes, but that wasn't the case in here. Baia wasn't huge, but it was a real town with a large human population. Hardly a rural camp or farm settlement. Downtown was lined with small shops and restaurants, it seemed like any other place in the world people might live.

Dimitri turned down a couple of side streets and turned into the driveway of a two-story cream house, with a large open front yard and homey looking front porch.

I looked over at him as he shut off the engine and I watched his face turn into the rare excited one. I knew he hadn't seen his family in a really long time and he couldn't wait to see them.

He opened his door and jumped out. I followed his example and went over to where he was waiting. I slipped my hand into his as he stared up at the house I assumed he'd called home his entire life. I wanted to know everything about this house; it was a part of his childhood, a part of him.

"Let's go, Comrade." I said in a cheery voice with a smile.

He didn't answer me back, instead he leant down and kissed my cheek and started leading me to the front door. We walked over the front porch that creaked under our weight. Dimitri was constantly looking around, taking in his surroundings. He lifted his hand that wasn't hold mine and knocked three times on the white painted door.

He turned to me and smiled.

Before he could say anything, the door opened and a girl a bit younger than me appeared. I knew she was Dimitri's sister instantly. She had the same brown hair but with gold streaks through it and her eyes sparkled just like his. She was yelling something out to somebody in the house, while holding a white plate and a tea towel. When she saw who was at the door she dropped the plate and it shattered once it met the floor. Her hands went straight to her gaping mouth as she gasped. She moved her hands away from her mouth a little and whispered in an awestruck voice, "_Dimitri?_"

He chuckled in response and let go of my hand, he raised his arms and invited her to hug him. She squealed and lunged at him, her arms wrapped around his neck in a vice tight grip, her legs doing the same around his waist. He choked her back in an affectionate gesture between siblings.

She continued her screaming, "DIMKA! DIMKA! DIMKA! YOU'RE HOME! YOU'RE HERE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? MAMA! DIMKA'S HOME! HE'S FINALLY HERE!"

I stood back and watched. It was impossible to keep the smile off my face. He told me how close Dhampirs were in the communes, and I knew he was nuts about his family. He lit up every time he mentioned them, and now he's finally with them again.

An older woman came rushing to the door. Once she saw him, she exclaimed in Russian and raced towards him. This must have been his mother. She would have been in her forties she had the same brown eyes, but her hair was a shade lighter. She wore it in a neat bun at the back of her head. His sister had cleared the way for their mother to crash into him and hold him.

Dimitri clung to his mother and held her tightly.

Out of nowhere a kid appeared with a young woman in her twenties about three seconds behind him. The kid was about ten years old and he looked like a younger version of Dimitri.

"DIMITRI!" cried the boy and raced over to him.

"Paul! Look how big you've grown!" Dimitri said. Paul must be Dimitri's nephew.

Dimitri looked up at the woman and his gorgeous eyes sparkled. "Karolina." He said to the woman I think must have been another of his sisters. He started to rush over to her but stopped when he realised she wasn't alone. She was cradling a tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket, must be a girl.

He walked up to her and kissed her cheek in a loving greeting and looked down at the baby in her arms.

"Her name is Zoya." She told him, and he smiled brightly.

"She's beautiful." He seemed dazed. I knew he wanted his own kids, and that I couldn't give him that. Not without a miracle.

Dimitri took a step back and looked around, "Where are Sonya and Grandmother?"

As if on cue, a woman who looked similar to Dimitri and an old extremely skinny woman came waddling across the front yard. I say waddling because the young one who must be Sonya, Dimitri's older sister, was heavily pregnant and practically being hauled along by a large Siberian husky on a leash. I think the old ladies excuse was that she was old.

Dimitri bounded down the porch steps and managed to gently hug his sister and grandmother. They embraced him back and the dog barked happily.

"Since when did we get a dog?" he asked his sister.

She shrugged. "We didn't. Paul found him in the yard one day as a puppy and kept him."

"What's his name?" he asked curiously, scratching behind the dog's ears.

"Guardian." She replied simply. "Paul named him after what he wants to be when he grows up." She smiled. Dimitri laughed.

They walked up onto the porch and the family stood together. There were a lot of Belikov's in front of me. Dimitri came up beside me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He kissed my cheek reassuringly and I looked up at him and smiled, trying ti appear confident. I was shaking on the inside.

"Everyone, this is my beautiful Roza." He introduced me, I smiled politely and looked at them all together, each face one by one.

"Rose, this is my mother, Olena. My grandmother, Yeva. My sisters, Viktoria, Sonya and Karolina. And these are my niece and nephew, Zoya and Paul." He introduced them all and pointed out who they were. "Oh, and Guardian the dog, apparently." He laughed.

"Nice to meet you all." I greeted them politely with a smile.

Olena stepped forward and put her hand against my cheek. Her face was gentle and motherly and I instantly loved her. "Welcome to the family, Rose."


	6. Chapter 6

Richelle Mead owns everything basically. :)

* * *

Chapter 6

_"Welcome to the family, Rose."_ Olena had said when Dimitri introduced me to his family. I was honestly surprised by what she said.

Did she really consider me family already? I mean that's a huge relief for me. At least she didn't grab a pitchfork and chase me out of town. Yet.

Maybe she has something up her sleeve. Waiting for a second when Dimitri isn't around and then she'll corner me and pounce. _Or_, she really is his mother.

I was sitting with the entire Belikov family in what must be their living room, while they bombarded poor Dimitri with millions of questions. At the moment he was sitting in a three-seater sofa with Karolina and Sonya on either side of him. His two sisters were asking him about the Academy and some of the guardians who were on duty at the school protecting Moroi and teaching novices. Paul and Viktoria were perched on the arms of the chair listening attentively with wide eyes. Whenever Dimitri brought up a fight he had to break up or when he mentioned Strigoi, they both simultaneously gasped or said. "_Wow!_"

I guess his family really did look up to him. Olena and Yeva were seated in another sofa just off to the side of the three seater and I was in a recliner opposite them. His mother was watching him with a proud smile. I don't think Olena was really listening to Dimitri's adventures, I think she was just glad her only son was home safe and not harmed.

Every now and then Dimitri would look over at me and smile, which I would automatically return. I couldn't help myself; seeing him happy made me ecstatic.

Over all the commotion and noise, baby Zoya started crying. Karolina stood up with her daughter in her arms, gently rocking her from side to side and patting her back. She started heading into another room as she softly hushed her little girl. All the people in the room had lowered their voices noticeably but continued enquiring.

After about another ten minutes of "_Dimitri, Dimitri, Dimitri, Dimitri._" I zoned out. I stared aimlessly at the pattern in the wallpaper until a small hand touched my shoulder and I jerked back to the scene in front of me.

"Earth to Rose!" Viktoria said in a singsong voice.

I looked up at her and smiled. "Sorry. Zoned out, heard it all before." I apologized and explained.

She smiled. "That's cool. We were just talking about you and Dimka. He said he's your mentor. Have you kicked his butt yet?" she asked as she started throwing a couple of mock punches with what I think was suppose to be an intimidating serious face. I laughed at her; I could tell we were going to get along.

"Why don't we ask him?" I said with a sly smile. "Have I totally whooped your butt yet, Dimitri?" I asked playing on the innocence. I could hear Olena's kind laughter from the opposite side of the room.

Dimitri looked down and laughed. "Possibly once or twice." He answered.

"_Once or twice!_" I exclaimed. "I think you should be the one in school, you need to learn how to count!" I complained. Everyone in the room erupted in laughter, including Dimitri and me.

"Okay, okay." He held his hands up in surrender while chuckling. "There might have been a few more times where Rose ends up on top." He looked over at me as he said the last four words. I could see the humour in his eyes, but I definitely got the underlying message loud and clear. And incredibly, I blushed.

Viktoria was laughing her head off.

She jumped up off the sofa arm and ran the few steps over to me and she grabbed my right wrist. "Come over here and sit with him. You don't have to sit by yourself."

She dragged me over to the empty seat where Karolina was sitting before she left the room and pushed me into the soft cushions of the sofa.

I adjusted myself into a more comfortable position and glared uselessly at her. She cackled a little bit more at my expression and returned to her post on the arm of the sofa at the opposite end.

"So Rose. Dimitri talked _a lot_ about you when he rang." Sonya started with her hands resting lightly on her huge stomach. It thrilled me hearing that he mentioned me to his family, but there was something about her tone that I didn't like. It had an edge.

_Bingo,_ I thought. I found _Team Anti-Rose._

"He didn't mention many details about you though, perhaps you would like to enlighten us." She said with a sneer.

Ha! Here we go…

"What would you like to know?" I asked confidently with a fake smile just for her. Dimitri slid his arm around my waist protectively; I guess he knew what was going to come next.

"How old are you again?" she asked. Her eyes glued on me, watching my every move. _So Dimitri's intimidating streak must run in the family._ I could feel the spirits bad side effects looming inside of me. Like petrol, it only needed the smallest spark to ignite and burn in all its dangerous glory.

I held my chin high defiantly; I was so not going to shy away from her. Dimitri must have left out some details, but I was almost positive he would have already told them about our situation. He can barely keep things from me, let alone his family. "I'm eighteen in three days." Somehow telling her I was seventeen felt like a bad idea. I didn't need her to start the whole _"He's six years older than you"_ lecture all over again.

"That's perfect!" Viktoria cried. "We can have a party, and get dressed up, and you can meet all our friends!"

"I don't want to be a hassle." I made clear.

"Don't be silly, Rose." Olena brushed off my attempts. "We would love to celebrate your birthday. If it makes you feel better, we could make it a welcome home party for Dimitri as well." I liked that idea better.

"As long as Dimitri's in, then sure, I'm in." I said and looked up at him. I met his gorgeous brown eyes, the ones that nearly everyone in his family seem to have. "What do you say, Comrade?"

"Sounds like a good idea. It'll give you a chance to use your camera." He replied with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"This is going to be so cool!" Viktoria squealed. "You have to give us a copy of the photos you take. Even the lovey dovey ones with you and Dimka." She said with a smirk.

I looked up at Dimitri as he glared at his little sister. "Don't give Rose any more ideas." He scolded.

I laughed. "I'll never run out of material. I believe I've told you this before." I said with a devious grin. Dimitri's only response was a sigh and roll of his eyes.

"Back to the questions." Sonya interrupted. I clenched my fists tightly.

"_Sonya._" Olena warned her daughter. I think she could tell where Sonya was headed with this particular interrogation.

"What?" she asked innocently. "I'm just curious." She continued in that false sweet voice. I could practically hear the leer underneath her pathetic cover.

"No." Olena disagreed sternly. "You're being rude to our guest."

"I thought you said she was family." She countered ignorantly.

Well there goes all chances of me liking her; and I was trying to like all the members of his family.

"It's fine." I said trying to cool down the female testosterone that was fogging up the living room and trying to swallow the anger and darkness being summoned inside me. "What else would you like to know?" I asked, my voice slightly wavering. I think Lissa was using a fair amount of spirit right this second. Nobody seemed to notice the little jump in my voice.

"Do you have a big family?" she asked. I think she was getting the pleasant questions out of the way so she could drop the nuclear bombs when I least expect them.

I plastered a smile on my face, put a muzzle on the dark Rose Hathaway and tied her to the post. "No, I don't. I've never met my father, but my mom visits every now and then. You might have heard of her, Janine Hathaway?" I asked out of curiosity.

Okay, that's a lie. I wanted to see her face when she realised who she was talking too.

Her eyes widened in shock. "_You're_ the daughter of the famous Janine Hathaway?" she asked in an incredulous voice.

"Yes." I said simply. I could see Dimitri trying not to bust up laughing from where he sat.

"What an honour to have the daughter of one of the worlds greatest guardians in my house." Olena remarked.

I laughed awkwardly in the silence; I could feel all eyes on me. "Well, I'm not as good as her." I confessed.

"Yet. But I think it's a matter of opinion." Dimitri added. Olena kindly laughed along with Viktoria. Sonya just looked bored. "You should see her fight. She's mesmerising."

"You only find her mesmerising because you're crazy about her. Like you just said, it's a matter of opinion." Viktoria argued. "But I do believe you are a force to be reckoned with." I laughed. She sounded like Dimitri. They all have the same sense of humour.

"I bet you can't wait to kill your first Strigoi." Sonya said sarcastically.

Haha, here comes the jaw drop.

"Already have." I said with a cocky smile. I wasn't going to say how many though; thinking about them brought back the guilt I felt for Mason's death, and I wasn't ready to talk to his family about that day. Not yet.

Her mouth fell open with a 'pop' sound. _"What?"_ she squeaked out. "Your not even eighteen yet. You haven't even finished high school and you've killed your first Strigoi!"

"She's killed more than one." Dimitri stated from where he sat beside me. Olena, Viktoria, Sonya and even Karolina who had just re-entered the room gasped. I elbowed him and he didn't even flinch. It was like he never felt it.

"They were bound to find out soon enough. You can't hide your neck forever." He spoke down to me, talking about my _molnija_ marks along with my little star-shaped tattoo that meant I'd been in a battle.

I sighed. "_Fine._" I turned my body so my back was facing them and moved my long hair over my shoulder to reveal the back of my neck and expose my marks.

"_Woooow!_" Paul cried. "_You're a guardian! Like Dimka!_" he got up from where he was sitting on the floor spacing out and totally ignoring our conversation to play with his little toy trucks, ran over to me and jumped up on to my lap. He wriggled his little butt until he was comfy and could look at me while I spoke. I awkwardly put my arm around him and Paul grabbed my other free had with both of his.

He looked so much like a mini Dimitri that I wanted to keep him for myself. With him sitting here on my lap, the uncontrollable anger that had started awakening dulled to a small hum. It wasn't quite the same antidote as Dimitri, but Paul definitely was able to lessen it.

I laughed. "Not yet." I objected. "But soon I'll be Princess Vasilisa Dragomir's guardian."

"A Princess as your first official duty? At your age? Just out of high school?" Sonya questioned in a doubtful voice. "I don't think that's going to happen."

"Sonya." Dimitri spoke in a cold voice. "Back off."

And boy, did he mean it. I guess he really wasn't going to let her scare me. He was determined to make sure I didn't have another panic attack and freak out over his family not liking me.

Olena stood up. "I think that's enough for one day." She said. "Sonya and Viktoria; I need your help with dinner. Paul sweetie, do you want to help Rose and Dimitri take their bags upstairs." She asked the little boy. He nodded eagerly and jumped up looking for our bags that were stationed in the corner of the room by a potted leafy plant.

"Dimitri, we gave Paul your old small bed and got you a new bigger one, big enough for two." She smiled at me. "But if you don't want to share, there is a spare bed in Viktoria's room."

"Um." I looked at Dimitri. "Roomies?" I asked with a little too much eagerness. What can I say? I was excited to be sharing a room with him for a whole week. Who knows, maybe we'll have a repeat of the cabin.

He laughed. "She'll stay with me." He said to his mother.

"Thought so." Then she turned to Yeva, her mother; Dimitri's grandmother.

She looked like she was a gazillion years old and was so thin; I was surprised she didn't fall over with the slightest touch. She was barely five feet tall and her hair covered her head in patchy grey wisps. But her eyes were what scared the hell out of me. They were dark and sharp and alert. I definitely took Dimitri's word for her being a witch, and she was the only member in the family who didn't speak English.

That is aside from the baby and the dog.

Olena spoke to her mother in Russian. I had no idea what she was saying and Dimitri was starting to stand up. I followed suite and walked with him over to where Paul was struggling with our bags. There were four suitcases all together, two were mine and two were his. Dimitri pulled out my smaller one and gave it to Paul to carry up the staircase. He handed me my other larger one, and took both of his at the same time; one in each hand.

We ascended the stairs and as we past the rooms he told me whose was who's.

"That one is my mother's room," he pointed to the first door along the corridor. "Next is my grandmother's, then its Viktoria's, then Sonya's." he showed me. Then we went past a door with four wooden letters spelling out Paul in bright blue.

"Paul's?" I guessed.

"That's what I was thinking," he admitted with a deep chuckle. "It wasn't being used the last time I was home. Paul shared a room with Karolina." He explained.

"He looks like a mini version of you, you know that?" I asked.

That made him laugh. "He's better looking though."

Now it was my turn to laugh. "As a sexy wise man once said, 'it's a matter of opinion.'" I just realised I'd heard somebody else say that once, but I tossed the thought aside and smiled widely. "In other words, I'll be the judge of that." I slowly but obviously dragged my eyes down the length of his body and back up again, making sure I stopped at vital places. When I met his eyes at the end of my assessment they practically screamed, _'Watch out. When I close the door behind us, you're mine.'_ Well not in so many words, but there was a lot of desire there.

There were three doors left. One was obviously Dimitri's room, another Karolina and Zoya's room, but the third was a mystery to me.

As if reading my mind, Dimitri spoke. "That's the bathroom straight ahead. My room on the right and Karolina's on the left."

We walked straight to his room and stood just inside the doorway. Dimitri looked around the room just like I did. It had pale blue walls with a large bed in the centre. There were two bedside tables on each side of the bed; a big wardrobe that I doubted Dimitri would ever fill with clothes. There was a small bookcase mounted on the wall filled with western novels and John Wayne movies, and some small picture frames decorated the room.

Dimitri was in all of them of course. One with his mother. One with his whole family, not including Paul, Zoya, and Guardian the dog or the huge stomach Sonya now acquainted. And the one that mad the bad spirit rumble inside me was the one where Dimitri was standing with his arm around _Tasha Ozera_.

I groaned.

I know I was being petty considering I had him and he'd told her he wasn't interested, but I get jealous because she knew him first. I know they were good friends and still are, that doesn't bother me. Well it does, but not as much. What bothers me is that they could be together and nobody would make a big stupid deal about it. They could live in peace and be happy together, they could even start a family. I knew Dimitri wanted his own children and I hated, _hated_, the fact I couldn't give that to him. I didn't even have the have the freaking option. It made me mad.

Thinking about this was bringing on the anger again. I was starting to breathe heavier and faster.

"_Dammit. Go away!_" I whispered to the feeling inside me.

I heard Dimitri murmur something to Paul and heard his little feet exit the room followed by a soft thud. He must have shut the door behind him after he left.

Two strong masculine arms wrapped around my waist from behind.

"It's back again." He said quietly in my ear. "Isn't it?"

I knew he was referring to the scary darkness that threatened to over power me and drive me insane. I could feel it inside my head making me feel weak in my body, making it seem like it was controlling my body for me.

"No shit, Sherlock." I retorted back sarcastically.

He flinched and loosened his hold on me. I pulled myself out of his grip and walked around his room aimlessly. I needed to calm down, I needed to take deep breaths and then apologise to Dimitri who was only trying to help and care for me.

"Rose." He said my name so softly, filled with so much emotion. For a moment it went away, I felt like my normal self again. It scared the hell out of me and it was getting harder to handle, almost painful.

I didn't realise I was crying until he started moving towards me with his arms ready to hold me tight to his body. "I'm sorry. It's getting worse. Lissa's using so much magic, and it scares me to death." I confessed into his warm chest.

All of a sudden the hatred and pure black emotion screamed through me. "Help me!" I gasped out as the feeling erupted inside me. I grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and clenched my fists as hard as I could and bit down on my tongue to stop myself from screaming.

"That _stupid_ girl! _Doesn't she know what she does to me?_"I complained.

Two large warm hands pulled my face up. I looked into his gorgeous dark eyes, the ones I fell in love with and the dark effects gradually started to fade. "Rose. Look at me. Please come back." Then his lips came crashing down on mine.

At first I struggled, trying to escape his strong grip. The longer we were connected the quicker the side effects vanished. My lips were moving in synchronisation with his not long after. I pulled him closer when I was back to myself again only to have him pull away.

I couldn't take my eyes of his lips; they had my complete attention. I watched them move as he said something to me, but I couldn't even hear the words. The only thing that I could comprehend in my head was his lips.

Without warning I lunged at him and glued my mouth to his. The instant they made contact, the fire between us was burning like a bushfire. One minute we were standing in the centre of the room, the next my back was against a wall. My legs were wrapped around his waist and I was gasping for air as his warm lips and hot tongue explored the length of my throat. I gasped again and swallowed hard as his hands slid up my back underneath my t-shirt.

"_Dimitri._" I breathed. It felt right, he felt right. I didn't care at all at that moment. I didn't care that his sister Sonya didn't like me, I didn't care that Tasha was a stupid cow, I didn't even care that Lissa was fuelling me up with crazy darkness. I wanted Dimitri right now; hell, I needed him.

"_Roza…_" he purred. "I want–"

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

Dimitri groaned and stepped back to let me stand. "Yes?" he shouted through the door. His voice sounded amazingly normal even though he was breathing as hard as me.

"Dinner's ready!" Viktoria yelled back.

_Perfect timing…_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After dinner, I offered to help Olena clean up all the dirty dishes. At first she brushed off my attempts of being a kitchen hand saying that no guest in her house has to clean up after everyone, but I insisted.

It gave me some private time with her, a chance for us to talk.

I offered to wash while she dried and put everything away in its rightful place in the cabinets and cupboards. They didn't have a dishwasher, well they did – Olena.

"You know, you really don't have to do this." Olena said trying to change my mind. "I don't mind doing this by myself. I do it every other night on my own." She confessed as I filled the sink with hot water and detergent.

I looked her in the eye. "I want to help. From what I've seen and heard you cook, clean and look after sick and hurt people all day, everyday." I said stubbornly while I dumped some of the used cutlery in the hot soapy water. When we were having dinner, I learned that Olena was the local nurse in the town for all the Dhampirs. "You have so much on your plate that you don't seem to have any time left for yourself." I said as I rinsed the bubbles of a now clean white plate and set it in the dish rack.

Olena laughed. "You sound just like him." She smiled at me in an affectionate way and picked up the folded tea towel.

"Like who?" I asked.

"Dimitri." She answered simply, like it was the most obvious thing. She walked over to one of the cupboards under the countertop and placed the dry plate inside.

"I don't think… really?" _I haven't turned into the female version of him, have I?_

"Really." She let out one of her gentle laughs that I becoming accustom to. "He says the exact same thing when he's home. Trying to make everyone do their own part." She explained. "I see he has an effect on you."

My turn to laugh. "You have no idea." I confessed. "I'm a totally different person then I was before I met him." I continued cleaning the plates and cups. She continued to dry and put everything away as we spoke. I could hear the TV in the other room along with playful cries and squeals.

Dimitri and his sisters must be mucking around in the living room.

"Rose… I don't want to be rude, but do you mind me asking how. How has he changed you? He's never been like this before and-" I cut her off before she could start babbling.

"It's fine, really." I interrupted with what I hoped to be an encouraging smile. "Did he tell you how we met?" I checked.

She shook her head and said, "He only mentioned that you were in your final year at St. Vladimir's. So I assumed you met there." She said truthfully.

"We didn't actually meet at the school. Remember how I said my first assigned Moroi is going to be Princess Vasilisa Dragomir?" she nodded. "Well, she's been my best friend since our first day at the academy. We're inseparable, _literally_." I explained.

"What do you mean?" she asked obviously picking up on my emphasis on the last word.

"You probably won't believe me… but… we're bonded." I said cautiously, trying to predict her reaction. Bonds were nearly unheard of, especially because of the rarity of spirit users.

Lucky Olena wasn't holding anything other then a towel at the time; she let it slip from her hands and fall to the tiled floor. Her hands moved to cover her gaping mouth, one over the other.

After a couple of seconds she moved to pick up the tea towel. "_How?_ How did you create the bond? Did Dimitri notice when you first met?" she spoke so quickly I had trouble trying to work out what she asked me.

"We were in a car accident when we were younger. The princess' – Lissa's – mom, dad, older brother and I died. She was still alive in the seat next to me, and she put her hands on me and wanted me to be alive with every part of her being. She brought me back from the dead, and ever since I have been shadow-kissed and bonded to her. It makes me her perfect guardian, I can get into her head and I can feel what she feels. Dimitri noticed it as soon as he captured us." I blurted out without thinking.

"Captured you?" she asked clearly confused.

"Yeah," I gave a shaky laugh. "The academy sent him and a few other guardians to bring us back. A couple of years ago Lissa got really depressed and she needed to get out, so we ran away. For two whole years we hid in the human world. I know now it was a stupid thing to do, but at the time it was the only option. I did it all for her, and the unbelievable thing is that I'd do it again if she asked me to." I said just realizing that I would do it all over again.

"I'm speechless…you would give everything up for her. I'd love to meet Lissa." She said.

"I think she would adore you. You have the same kind nature as her. Where as I'm the opposite – she's pale and angelic," I said in a sweet voice, "and I'm dark and rebellious." I replied dryly. Olena laughed.

We had gotten into a routine as we talked and I was down to the last of the knives and forks. "I noticed that. You have this strength, this fire inside of you." She admitted with a smirk. "So is that how you two met. With him restraining you and Lissa?" she asked still holding that smirk in place.

"Not so romantic, huh?" I responded.

"No, it's not at all." She agreed slightly shaking her head.

"He was the reason I'm still at the academy. He made sure Kirova let me stay." I smiled to myself remembering how he fought for me. "She was planning to expel me and send me somewhere." I didn't dare say where. I will remember to never joke or make sarcastic retorts about the Dhampir communes ever again. "But he wouldn't let her, he said I had to much talent to just throw away. Then something happened I don't even think he expected. He got the job of tutoring me, and back then, I don't think he was too happy about it. I'm known to be a rather _difficult_ student to teach." I said in all honesty. There's no point in hiding it, she's bound to find out about me sooner or later. "That's how everything between us started."

"Did a lot of people make a big deal about you two being together?" she asked carefully. Testing to see if this was safe ground to tread on.

"No one knew until a few days ago." I told her honestly. "What's the point in being in love with someone when people can't know about it?" I asked not expecting an answer.

"I've never seen him so _happy_." Olena said, her eyes seeming to glaze over as she lost herself in thought. "He's always been a positive and happy person, but this is the first time I have ever seen him genuinely _happy._" She opened up to me. "As much of an effect he has on you, you have on him. He seems so much more confident and sure of himself. Its as if you were the final missing puzzle piece he has been looking for all his life to complete him." She spoke metaphorically.

A burst of pure joy flowed through me from head to toe. _She thinks I'm good for him._

She smiled to herself and looked down at the ground. I took that time to empty the sink full of dirty water and bubbles. Olena handed me the towel to wipe up the excess water that I managed not to splash on the front of my shirt and I dried my hands.

"Rose, remember that you are always welcome here in my house." She said out of nowhere. "Ignore Sonya, she's moody because of the pregnancy. She wouldn't normally be so nasty, so don't take it personally."

I nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

"And thankyou for helping with all of this." She gestured to the kitchen sink. She closed the space between us and gave me a tight hug, which I gladly returned. I would have loved to have her as a mother, but she was no Janine Hathaway in my books.

"Your welcome." I said quietly.

We pulled apart from each other in time to see Dimitri leaning on the doorframe watching us with his small signature smile that was becoming more common in his appearance as the days went by.

"I'll leave you two alone." Olena said as she gave me a light peck on the cheek. "Night, Rose." Then she walked over to her son and did the same. She left the room and I could her quiet footsteps as she went up the stairs to her room.

Dimitri remained where he was and just gazed at me. His eyes twinkling in that adorable way they do when he's happy or excited. I moved so my back was leaning against the kitchen sink and I rested my hands on the edge, either side of me.

I was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable and self-conscious with him staring at me in the silence, so I broke it.

"Everyone gone to bed?" I asked. It was the first thing that came to my mind.

He pushed off the doorframe and slowly drifted over to me. His hands found my waist and pulled me closer to him, his fingers glided softly down my sides and came to rest on my hips. The whole time his eyes never left mine, those beautiful dark eyes.

"Everyone has gone to bed," he finally said. "Tired?" he asked.

As if on cue, I yawned. "Maybe." I said and couldn't hold back a smile.

He bent his head down while chuckling a deep rumbling sound and kissed my lips softly. He pulled back and his hands came up to cup my face. My hands lay limp on his chest, his heartbeat pounding out a strong healthy rhythm that was slightly on the fast side; much like my own.

"I dreamed about this." He said suddenly. "About you being in this house, in my room…" he didn't need to finish that sentence for me to get the idea.

"Let's go to bed." I said. After I said it, I almost clarified what I meant by that considering we were just talking about him dreaming of having sex with me in his room, but when I thought about it I decided not to. To just leave it open to him to imagine what was going on in my head.

I grabbed his hand and started for the stairs. Being the good obedient guardian he was, Dimitri followed, more like a lost puppy actually.

When we reach his room he seemed to shake himself and opened the door for me, still holding my hand he followed me in and shut the door.

"There's a bathroom through that door," he pointed to the one to the left of me. "My mother felt I deserved my own, considering I live with five women."

"I'll be right back." I jumped up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then ran over to my bags to grab my tank top and sleep shorts that I normally wear to bed. After I dug them out I walked to the bathroom door, opened it, switched on the light, and looked back to see what Dimitri was doing as he moved around the room.

The bedroom lights were still off and he was on the standing on the other side of the room with his body slightly angled towards me, the glow of the bathroom lights causing a shadow behind him, and he was_… taking his shirt off…_

I gulped hard.

My mouth went dry.

I stopped breathing.

My body felt hot all over.

And I _stared_.

I watched as his biceps flex as he gripped the edge of his shirt, as he started to reveal those rock hard abs he kept well hidden under his clothing. I watched his pectoral muscles twitched as he brought the shirt up over his head and showed his smooth broad chest. His back muscles and shoulder blades moving as he lowered his arms down again.

Wow, I'd forgotten how hot he is…

_Well, not really forgotten, just didn't think about it before hand._

I must have been drooling when he looked over because he asked, "What?" with a devilish grin and his eyes sparkling. _He knew exactly what._

I blushed and retreated to behind the now closed bathroom door.

_Dammit, why are you acting like such a kid? Act like a woman. A strong, sexy, dominant woman. _

After my little self-pep talk, I changed and washed up. When I was done I took a deep breath, switched off the light and opened the door. I stepped out looking at the ground the whole time and closed it behind me. I stood there for a second not moving, steadying myself. And then I looked up to see him lying under the covers on the farthest side, propped up on one elbow, no shirt as far as I could see, looking over at me – waiting.

I smiled my man-eater smile and tried my 'all hips' walk the distance to the bed making my long dark hair slightly bounce in its freedom. The 'all hips' walk to put it simply is – swing your hips while you walk. It works better when you walk slowly, and you have to concentrate really hard not to make it obvious because guys can pick it up easily. Once they spot it, it losses most of its affect. Not all of it though.

I love it; it makes them take special notice of your legs and your curves – if you have any, that is.

Dimitri's eyes travelled from my ankles upwards. Drinking me in, inch by inch. When I reached the bed, I slid under the covers and copied his pose.

"You don't look so tired anymore." He stated in a deep husky low voice.

I wasn't. I was _incredibly_ aware of him however.

His body heat.

The lingering remains of his aftershave.

His bare chest.

"I'm not…" I replied close to a whisper. I could feel the sexual tension between us, thick and irresistible.

His hand found my hip under the blankets and in the next moment he was on top of me. His hard masculine body pressed up against mine, head to toe. His heart beat as fast as my own.

_I swear that alone is enough to give any girl an orgasm._

His mouth was hungrily attacking mine, and I can't say I was doing any different to him. One of my hands was in his silky hair securing his face to mine, the other behind his back, gripping on to him leaving small crescent marks where my nails bit into his skin. I pushed him off me, and rolled so I was on top. He made low deep incoherent noises as my mouth left his and travelled along his cheek to his earlobe. I took it between my teeth gently and pulled and sucked, moving on I followed the curve of his jaw with my lips until I reached his chin.

I was just starting to venture down the length of his neck when his restraint vanished and he flipped me on my back again taking charge.

He made me want to scream. The way he touched me; his hands, his amazing hands that travelled places only he has been. He knew what I liked, where I liked to be touched. Or maybe that was where _he_ liked touching me… anyway, it felt mind-blowing.

He was just starting to push my tank top up to reveal my flat smooth stomach when a baby started crying, rather loudly in the nights silence. Shortly followed by Karolina's soft footfalls and hushed soothing noises.

It was like a bucket of ice cold water was splashed over us, we broke apart gasping for air. He rolled off of me and lay beside me, shattering all my hopes of continuing our lip crushing conversation.

I turned and laid on my side, my back to him. I was beginning to breathe normally again and I could feel my exhaustion coming back. I took a deep breath and sighed, shutting my eyes.

The mattress compressed as Dimitri scooted over and cuddled up behind me, his arm wrapping around me protectively pulling me closer to him. I could hear him lift his head off the pillow and I felt him press his lips to my cheek so softly.

"Goodnight my beautiful Roza…" he whispered. I smiled to myself, loving the way he made me feel, then I slowly fell into the deep fathomless darkness of unconsciousness…

That was until I noticed I was in a garden.

_He had to ruin my perfect night, almost perfect… _

"I miss you already, Little Dhampir." Adrian spoke as he stepped out from behind a blooming rose bush wearing a dark red shirt and worn out jeans with holes. No shoes.

"It's been like… two days." I remarked dryly, annoyed he was interrupting what could have been a dream all about Dimitri. I looked down to see I was wearing the same thing I was wearing right at this moment in Dimitri's bed.

"I have no one to talk to anymore, since you and Lissa decided to ditch me." He whined. "I would have even spoke to _Ozera_, but even _he's_ not here." His usually handsome face settled into a pout.

"I'm sorry the world's treating you badly." I said sarcastically.

"Someone's grumpy." He finally picked up on. "You and the cradle-robber fighting?" he asked with a smirk.

Haha, payback time.

"Far, far from it actually." I said with a smirk much the same as his.

His face drained from any emotion. I suddenly had second thoughts about making him jealous, so instead I changed the subject.

"Sooo… you still at the academy? Or have you decided to migrate elsewhere?" I checked.

He stood there looking at me for a little while longer looking at me calculatingly and then decided to answer; "I'm still at the academy at the moment. The family jet arrives tomorrow, I'm planning to drop into Court, make an appearance like the good little great-nephew I am."

That made me smile.

"Little angel, huh?" I asked raising my eyebrows teasingly.

"Of course." He replied seriously and turned his face up like a rich snob.

_Ironic, hey?_

I snorted.

"Why, Miss Hathaway." He said in a sophisticated mocking voice, "You wouldn't happen to be suggesting that you see my behaviour and persona any different, would you?" he looked sternly at me.

I decided to play along.

"Of course not, Lord Ivashkov." I said innocently. "But, if Queen Tatiana were to discover the revelation that her well respected great-nephew was visiting young girls in their dreams, in particular Princess Vasilisa Dragomir and her faithful guardian, Rosemarie Hathaway. I do not assume her majesty will take to the matter lightly." I joked.

"Good thing I have no intensions of telling her about our late night get togethers." He said with a cheesy grin and turning back to his normal demeanour. I ignored how he vaguely suggested I actually took part in arranging these so called 'get togethers' that were actually all of his doing.

"She already thinks I'm trying to steal you and runaway." I spat dryly.

"She _what_?" he asked clearly shocked, with his eyes slightly bulging. He hadn't expected that one.

"Last time we were at Court, she said something along the lines of, _'Miss Hathaway. You are going to stop this atrocious affair you're having with my great-nephew. Immediately.'_" I quoted, managing to sound just like the old hag.

He started laughing.

"It's not funny, Adrian." I complained.

"You're right," he agreed. "It's downright hilarious."

"Asshole." I said under my breath.

He managed to calm himself down enough to ask, "So what did you say back?"

"I denied everything!" I almost yelled. He was starting to piss me off. "I thought it was a joke to begin with, but she was dead serious. She said I was getting in the way of her plan, the one where you and Lissa get married and rule over Moroi and Dhampirs."

"Why me and Lissa?" he asked.

"Oh, gee, I wonder." I said sarcastically. "She would never give it straight to you even though you're her heir because you're not mature enough and you're drug dependent. Where as, Lissa, she's smart, royal, determined and disciplined – well, when she's not around you." I said. "And Tatiana has practically taken her under her wing with the whole college thing."

"I am _not_ drug dependent." He argued.

"Yes, you are." I persisted.

"No, I'm not." He said defiantly.

"They classify cigarettes and alcohol as types of drugs, dimwit." I retorted back.

"No, they don't." he continued stubbornly, refusing to be caught being wrong about something. He crossed his arms over his chest.

I groaned getting _really _annoyed.

"Google it. You'd be surprised by what you learn." I said through my teeth.

"What's up with you? You're really moody." He pointed out, managing to switch the conversation topic to me. It was amazing how easily he could change the subject.

"I'm frustrated." I said angrily.

"With me?" he checked.

"Yes." I hissed.

"Sexually frustrated?" he asked.

"No!" I denied loudly.

"Why not? You seem-" I cut him.

"_Shut up Adrian! I'm frustrated with you! That's it!_" I started bellowing. "_The only person I'm sexually frustrated with is Dimitri, because when ever we try to do anything, we get interrupted_." I shouted without thinking.

I really hadn't meant to say that. Even if it was true, he didn't need to hear about my private life.

Adrian looked like he was trying to hold in his laughter.

Didn't work.

He started laughing so hard he doubled over.

I stood there and glared at him; embarrassed I'd slipped up like that.

"Trouble in paradise, huh?" he teased. "Second base out of reach? Can't seem to take the next step?" he continued to taunt me.

"For your information, ass wipe, we've already done it. A while ago, actually. The next step for us is to get married, and we all know that's not going to happen. Ever." I replied sounding disappointed, even to my own ears.

Deciding I was over this whole dream appearance he had made and wanting to go back to my own dreams, I said, "Goodnight Adrian."

"But-" he started up again.

"_Goodnight Adrian._" I repeated firmly.

"Fine. Night Little Dhampir." He said and everything began to blur and gradually turned into a peaceful darkness.

I woke up to find myself still securely under a strong familiar arm in a dark room that was slightly illuminated by the moonlight coming through the window opposite the bed. Dimitri was fast asleep. I could here his soft deep breaths as he lay beside me.

I turned over so that I was face top face with him, his arm tightened around me, not letting me go. He looked so vulnerable, so peaceful.

This is the beautiful man I fell in love with.

With that thought in my head, I snuggled closer to him.

He shifted in his deep sleep and mumbled my name, "_Roza…_"

I smiled; he made me do that a lot, smile. I closed my eyes and welcomed a peaceful slumber in which I fell, filled with thoughts of Dimitri.

***

I woke up the next morning to hear a door closing. I knew Dimitri was up and awake because the pressure of his arm wasn't there anymore.

I rolled onto my back and stretched out, letting all my joints and muscles pop and crack. I yawned and rubbed at the sleep from around my eyes.

"Up you get." He said.

"But mommy, I'm still tired." I complained in a little girl's voice. It was just starting to get light outside and most people would still be asleep.

"I don't care if you're missing a leg, we're going for a run." He replied. I looked over at him as he put a new shirt on; he looked over at me and smiled. "Get up, or I'll come over there." He said threateningly.

That sounded really appealing.

I propped my back up against the headboard and grabbed the pillow I wasn't using and threw it at him. He caught it, of course with his awesome reflexes.

"Make me." I goaded him.

He stood there looking over at me, contemplating what to do. He must have decided _screw it_, because he lunged for the bed, straight at me.

As scary as Dimitri can be at times, deep down he's a big softy.

In a few seconds he made his way to lay on top of me, not in the romantic way, in the I'm-going-to-squish-you-way. If the idea of being crushed alive by a Russian God wasn't bad enough, he started tickling me.

And boy, was I ticklish.

Between us laughing loudly and my squeals and cries of surrender, I didn't think many people were asleep anymore. I was proved right when Viktoria bashed on the door.

"Listen up Romeo and Juliet. Some people are trying to sleep, so, to put it politely, _SHUT UP_!" she yelled through the door and stormed back to her room.

We laughed quietly together at his sister who was evidently not a morning person and he gave up with his torture. He leant down and pecked my lips, looking into my eyes he said, "Up." He stood up and grabbed his runners.

I grumble. "Fine," I said as I threw back the covers and made my way over to get a pair of tracksuit pants and a t-shirt.

***

We'd been running together for a good half an hour and I was starting to get tired. We were about four yards away from his house when he said, "Last bit, push yourself as hard as you can." _Still in mentor mode._

I took a deep and started pumping my legs faster and faster. I pushed myself harder and harder. My legs and like most of my body were screaming profanities at me, but I ignored them and focused predominantly on trying to out run Dimitri. It was no use really. He decided to push himself and he ran straight past me.

I met up with him in the front yard, his hands braced on his knees panting for air.

I wasn't as elegant; I reached him and flopped onto the ground on my back, my legs and arms splayed out on the grass. My legs felt like jelly and my lungs threatened to pack their bags and jump out through my mouth.

"How… do you… do that…?" I gasped out.

"Practice." He replied.

It was a nice day today, still a bit chilly but warm in the sun. Guardian the dog was tied to a post near a kennel with a water bowl and an empty food bowl. He was dozing in the sun, I felt like he was rubbing it in my face, because I wanted nothing more than to do the same.

"Let's do a some sparring, just to keep it fresh in your memory." He said. "After that, you can go have a shower and we'll get some breakfast." He sounded perfectly normal, as if he never did a lap around the entire bloody country with me a short time ago.

I stood up and forced my breathing to a normal pace.

"Sounds good to me." I answered.

We got into our sparring positions and started. I got a few good hits in, one kick he took to the chest made him take a step back because of the impact. I almost stopped and apologised because I knew it would have a nasty bruise, lucky I didn't because his next punch came fast and hard. I managed to duck and kick his legs out from under him in the same motion. He hit the ground, facedown, and I pounced like a tiger, trapping its prey. I pretended to stake him from behind and I whispered in his ear, "I win, Comrade."

I stood up, releasing him.

But apparently we weren't finished yet.

He knocked me off my feet onto my back on the ground and straddled me. Then he pretend staked me.

"Hey! I staked you! You can't do that!" I complained, _cheater_.

"No promises the Strigoi is dead. You might have missed your target, or not pushed the stake in far enough." He explained while standing up and offering me a helping hand. I stood up and brushed the dirt and grass off my backside.

"That's enough for today. Shower time and breakfast." He announced as he took my hand.

When we were showered and had eaten breakfast with his family, Viktoria announced that me, her and Karolina were going dress shopping for my party tomorrow night that she had unbelievably already organised and invited over fifty family friends too. She mentioned there would be a surprise for me aside from the presents that I said there was no need for, but she brushed off my complaints much like her mother did.

So I spent my day with Karolina and Viktoria looking at tons of gorgeous dresses. Poor Dimitri got stuck with babysitting his niece and nephew with his mother, but that gave him a day to be at home with her and help her with difficult jobs.

By the time it was four o'clock, we had all found dresses, shoes and the necessary accessories. I even managed to get some new lingerie that was more a present for Dimitri then myself, but I still enjoyed getting it. Viktoria pick this adorable little black dress that had an extra layer over the top of this gorgeous floral lace, Karolina's was a deep purple with a huge fake diamond butterfly buckle on the waist belt, and my dress was this wicked gold sequin dress that complemented my skin tone.

When we got home we all ran upstairs and hid our dresses in Viktoria's wardrobe and then returned downstairs to join the others.

Dimitri came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist. "Have fun?" he asked in a low voice just for me.

I turned my head back and up to look at him. "Heaps." I said honestly, "Your sisters are awesome, and they have great taste in clothes."

He laughed. "Do I get to see this awesome dress of yours?" he enquired.

I nodded. "Yep. Tomorrow night." I smiled up at him. _You'll get to see more than just the dress, that's for sure._

He bent his head down to give me a quick kiss and then we listened in on the conversation going on in front of us.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm relieved to announce this is the final chapter.**

**I've kind of lost interest in writing this story and I can't seem to come up with anything new.**

**It was only meant to be a few chapters, just a different ending for _Shadow Kiss_.**

**So I hope you enjoy this, and I'm sorry it took so long. It was a really long chapter.**

**I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.**

**Sooooo.... Read and review. and i plan on starting to write my own book in the near future.**

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**_**Richelle Mead owns everything basically. **_

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Chapter 8

So here it is.

The day I've been waiting for has finally come; I'm officially an adult.

I don't feel any different, but then again I never expected to. I guess I was hoping to feel some sort of fulfilment you know, like I finally reached another difficult peak in my life that will make me feel like I've changed, matured. But maybe there is something different about me, something that's already altered over time that I just haven't noticed. Olena said I sounded more like Dimitri, Dimitri says I'm not the same as I use to be – only he didn't mention how, Lissa says I'm not as wild and flirtatious as I use to be; maybe this is growing up. Maybe this is the beginning of the soon to be _Guardian_ Hathaway.

I was lying in Dimitri's bed alone to my own disappointment, his room illuminated by the golden sunlight pouring in through his bedroom window. He wasn't in the bathroom because the door was open and I could hear faint noises downstairs. It sounded like people talking quietly along with the clatter of pots, pans and china plates.

I rolled out of bed grudgingly and headed for the shower in an attempt to wash away my weird mood. I needed to get a more cheerful appearance before I hunted down the rest of the Belikov's.

When I was washed up and feeling a lot more enthusiastic about today I walked back into Dimitri's room just when somebody knocked.

"Just a second!" I called back.

"Hey Rose! It's me!" Viktoria's voice came from the other side of the door. "Can I come in?"

"If you don't mind me in a towel, I guess!" I answered.

She slipped in through the door and closed it behind her.

"We're both girls, you haven't got anything I haven't got." She replied. "I hope." She added with a smirk.

"I'll let you know if anything unusual appears. Then we can call Dr Phil or something, make some cash off my abnormal appendage." I joked.

She gave me a concerned look just like her brother would have at my crazy ideas, and much like him; she didn't laugh. "I don't think Dr Phil is the guy we'd want to see. I was thinking more along the lines of 'Circus Freak'" She said seriously with her brows furrowed. "Anyway…" she trailed off, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" she squealed and ran over to me, she slammed on the brakes a few feet away and looked a little uncomfortable. "I'll take a raincheck on that hug and get it later." She said looking down at the towel.

I smiled up at her and winked. "Smart thinking ninety-nine." She nodded. "What did you want to talk about? Or was that all you wanted to say?"

"No, that was the first thing. Secondly, I have this really cute dress that doesn't fit me, but would be perfect on you. And it's your birthday so you should look pretty, not that I don't think you are, you're gorgeous, but I mean dress pretty." She went on and on.

I was kind of excited about this dress all of a sudden. I won't get many chances when I become a guardian to get dressed up and go out so I might as well enjoy myself now. "Can I see it?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll go get it." She answered, grinning from ear to ear as she headed for the door.

She left and came back in less then a minute, which was kind of impressive. She was holding this pretty cream dress made of soft fabric that swayed as she moved; it had little material flowers stitched along the round neckline, apart from that it was plain. It was a dull shade and slightly rugged looking, but at the same time I liked it. It's like the clothes you see in the mall, the ones with the ugly patterns on that are on display but when you try them on they don't look half bad.

So I went into Dimitri's bathroom and put it on gracefully and once I was in it she dragged me into her room.

It fit like she said, and it suit me. It made my tanned and slightly muscular figure stand out, my face more prominent. Viktoria lent me some make up and a light cardigan because it was still a little cool outside, and the next thing I was standing in front of a mirror in her room.

"Wow, you are amazing." I said as I stared at a gaping appealing version of myself. "I haven't felt this pretty in so long. I don't get the time to dress up for your brother with school and everything." I brushed my hands down the front of me, smoothing out the dress of any creases. My skin practically glowed in contrast to the delicate fabric.

"He told us about that." She said quietly. "The Strigoi attack on the school," She said as she sat down on her bed, "and the rescue mission."

"What did he say about them?" I asked. Just saying that he told them about it didn't mean he actually went into detail.

"He said you were an amazing fighter. He told us that you and a Moroi guy who uses fire dominated almost half of them." It was true, Christian and I killed most of the Strigoi that day.

"His name is Christian," I said. "The Moroi guy. He's actually Lissa's boyfriend." I explained.

"That's your best friend, right?" she checked, I nodded back. "It must be hard not having her here on your birthday."

All of a sudden I felt really guilty. I hadn't even had a though about Lissa ever since we got here. I'm her best friend; I should be worried sick about her being in a different country without me – her _guardian_. But I'm honestly not at all on edge; I can feel that she is safe and happy, and I'm glad she took Eddie with her last minute. I trust him, and I know he will look after Liss. Okay, and I know he will look after Christian too; as much as I hate the cocky prick, I kind of have a soft spot for him these days. Nothing romantic, more like… newfound respect.

"I guess." I replied. I didn't feel it necessary to actually confess what I was feeling to her. Maybe to Dimitri later, if it comes up. "It's okay though, I know she's safe and happy. So its all good."

She looked at me curiously, "How do you know that?" she asked.

Uh-oh. Do I tell her about the bond or not?

"Uh…" _What do I tell her?_ "Um… well…" _Oh, hell. She's got great guardians?_ "She's being watched by really good guardians while she's travelling, one of them I'm really good friends with. And I know she's happy because she couldn't wait to leave, plus she's got the boyfriend with her twenty-four/seven." I smiled.

She narrowed her eyes at me. She could tell that I was not saying something. Technically I was telling the truth, but I was leaving out some major details that she didn't really need to know.

She shook her head deciding to drop the subject.

"Now," She started. "I have these really cute pumps that go with it, I hope we wear the same shoe size." She said eagerly as she grab the shoes from her a wooden storage box at the foot of her bed. She threw them at me one by one and watched me strap them on. They were cute, they matched the dress using the same little material flowers and the same shade of cream. They were round at the end and covered my toes and strapped around me ankle, and fit like a charm, not to low and just high enough.

"You know, I think I might just ditch your brother and fall in love with you," I joked. She laughed. "Girl, you seriously know your clothes."

"I don't think Dimitri would be to happy to hear that." She said still smiling at my compliment.

"Hear what?" said a voice from the doorway.

We both spun around to see you know who with a smirk on his face looking at me.

I stood up and started making my over to where he was. "I'm thinking about breaking up with you," I teased, "Viktoria has better taste in fashion." I smiled as I reached him, which was the same time his face transformed into a breathtakingly beautiful smile that threatened to make my heart stop beating. He reached out and grabbed my waist and pulled me forward. My arms instinctively going up and around behind his neck that I could manage to reach in the heels, my arms brushing against his silky hair that he was wearing down. This close to his face I could take in the smell of his aftershave, the sweet, spicy, clean smell. His gorgeous dark eyes were boring into mine; it felt like he was looking into a window to my soul; and from the look on his face, he liked what he saw.

"I don't think I can let that happen." He murmured as he lowered his face down and pressed his lips to mine. I couldn't stop myself as I smiled against his lips and kissed him back eagerly. I loved the rush that coursed through my body every time our lips connected or our bodies made contact. I almost got lost in the feeling of his lips against mine – almost – but I could hear annoying choking sounds and a barely coherent "gross" coming from the general direction of where Viktoria was standing.

He pulled away but kept his face close to mine.

"Happy birthday," He said quietly with his winning smile.

"Thanks," I smiled back. "Hey Vik, on second thoughts, I'm gonna stick with Comrade here." I called over to her, never breaking eye contact with him.

Dimitri shook his head and laughed, "Stop calling me that."

"Never." I said defiantly and pecked his lips. "Quit complaining, I know how much you love it." I teased.

"You're wrong." He argued, leaning down to kiss me again, but he never made it.

Viktoria smacked away his hands that were holding my waist and grabbed my elbow; once she got a good grip she yanked us apart pulling me behind her, putting space between Dimitri and me.

"You," she pointed at Dimitri, "take a hike or something, I'm not done with her yet. So let me finish, you get her for the whole stupid day while I help everyone else, so it's only fair." She complained with a pouty face.

"What? Am I going somewhere?" I asked extremely confused as to what was happening that I clearly didn't know about. I narrowed my eyes both of them.

"Yes, you are. And I'll explain in a minute but countrified Prince Charming here, needs to leave so I can enjoy the last of our girl time." Viktoria said with an annoyed expression. I guess she really did like her girl time.

"Yeah," I chipped in. "You heard the woman. On your horse, cowboy." I called over to Dimitri with a grin.

He held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, but can I get one more thing before I go?" he asked, but it sounded more like he was begging.

"No." Viktoria said standing her ground. "She's mine." I wanted to argue that I was actually his, but this sibling rivalry was kind of cute in an amusing way. I never pictured Dimitri to be like this.

"But it's my birthday." I whined putting on my best sad face, puppy dog eyes and all.

"One second you're telling him to go, the next you want him to stay." Viktoria was starting to get frustrated with the scenario, and she was taking it out on me. "Make up your mind, Rose." She growled.

"Here, I'll fix this." I said as I slid my arm out of her grasp and marched over to where Dimitri was standing. I reached up using both of my hands and grabbed his angelic face and slammed it against mine. He sure as hell didn't waste any time deepening the kiss, and tangled his fingers in my hair securing my lips to his. I had to admit it was hot and fast and making me week in the knees. Everything I could smell, taste and feel was Dimitri.

This has got to be bad for you first thing in the morning.

"_Ewww!_" Viktoria bellowed. "_I saw tongue!_" I could practically hear her shuddering.

Dimitri and me laughed together and snuck another kiss, but this time it only lasted a few seconds and was completely sweet.

"Then don't watch," I replied to his sister without taking my eyes off him. He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "You got what you wanted, so… scat!" I ordered.

He stole another quick kiss, and laughed a deep throaty sound, said in a low voice close to my ear "You wanted it too," and left.

"Yuck. That is definitely something to add to the '_Don't ever see your brother doing_' list." She grumbled. I had to laugh at that. _I wondered what else she would add to that list._

"What else is on that list?" I asked as I made my way back over to where she was.

She glared at me for daring to ask such question. "A large percentage of what you two do together," she said in a dark dangerous tone as she walked over to her vanity table.

I laughed again, "Is that it?" I asked knowing that she must have tons of things.

"That's only the beginning." She said and pointed to the stool in front of her. "Sit," she commanded.

I sighed and reluctantly sat on the stool and let her abuse my hair. While she pulled out a curler and a variety of hair products, I picked up a magazine that was lying on the floor. I couldn't read any of the words because it was all in Russian, but the pictures were of actors and actresses that I was familiar with and had seen on television.

I didn't bother paying attention to what she was creating with my hair, and after about ten minutes Viktoria made a satisfied noise and said, "Done."

I looked up.

"Holy crap!" I let slip before I could stop myself. I couldn't believe what she had done to my hair. It looked beautiful. It was shaped into soft long curls that looked more like waves and took some of the boldness away from my features making them appear softer and more or less delicate.

"Do you like it?" she asked; I could hear the underlying hope for my approval.

I turned on the stool to face her and gawked at her. Once I shook myself, I jumped up and squeezed her. She made little groans and whimpers at my fierce embrace and I eventually let go.

"Ouch," She complained while rubbing her ribs. "I guess I got that hug then, and I'll take the death grip as a 'you like', am I correct?" she questioned.

"Hell yeah!" I said back beaming at her.

"Good then." She said, her posture and tone radiating contentment, she rubbed at her torso again and mumbled something like _"What the hell does he make you do in training? Strangle bears?"_ but she replaced it with an excited mask and finally gave her consent. "Now you and Dimka can go."

"You know, you never did say where and why I was going." I told her.

"Where you're going? I don't know. Dimitri was in charge of that." She began, "Why? Because we don't want you to see what we've organised until tonight so it's like a surprise. That explains why he was downstairs this morning and not with you, they need his help with putting the decorations up." She smiled.

"Okay, makes sense." I said calmly, on the inside my stomach was doing cartwheels because I was about to spend my birthday with just Dimitri. _Who knows what might happen._

"Oh, hey! Where's that camera you brought for your birthday?" Actually it was Lissa who bought it, but it wasn't important.

I ran back to Dimitri's room where I was staying with him and found the camera buried under some clothes in a draw that he had cleaned out and put my entire suitcase contents in. might I add, including the specially chosen underwear I selected for spending a week with him, which he had neatly folded. The lingerie I bought was still in its bag hidden at the back of the draw.

I returned back to her room and handed over the camera.

"Thankyou." She said as she swiped it from my fingertips and took command once again. "Now, stand over there," she pointed to an empty space in the center of her room, "and let that deadly smile of yours rip." She said light-heartedly.

After the one serious photo that she was determined to take, alarmingly the same kind of determination that Dimitri showed when he was set on something, we took a couple of us just mucking around and having fun. We were striking funny poses and making stupid faces, and just enjoying ourselves.

Viktoria reminded me of a younger, tamer version of me before I met Dimitri. It made me smile on the inside. I kind of wish Lissa was here to have fun with us. After Viktoria mentioned her name this morning, I've started missing her. I felt sort of empty without her here; without knowing that she was just a few minutes or seconds away. Right now she would be at least a few days away, which made me a little sad.

There was a lite knock on the door. I looked over to see my favourite person, and just because it was Dimitri – my heart started to speed up a little.

"Do you mind if I have her _now_?" he asked his sister in a sarcastic tone that he had never used around me before. It was amusing watching him react and respond around his family.

"_Yes_." She said with a serious face. I elbowed her. "_Ow_…" she mumbled and glared at me.

"We're done now, so… I guess I'm all yours." I said looking over at him with a small smile. I sounded so innocent and small, I could feel a flush creeping up the back of neck and crawling its way towards my cheeks. _Don't you dare_, I inwardly warned the evil blush, and… it swept across my cheekbones anyway like I never said a word. My entire face felt like it was on fire. _Traitor. _I looked anywhere but at him after that, hoping it would disappear before he could see it.

He walked over to me and brushed the tips of fingers across my hot cheek and smiled down at me. "You look beautiful," he murmured quietly to me.

I looked up into his eyes and couldn't hold back the smile that broke across my face.

"Ugh. I'm so getting out of here before you two go all kissy-face again. That was gross, you know." Viktoria grumbled as she made her great escape.

"We sure know how to clear a room," I stated when she left.

"I'll try to remember what we did for the next time I want to get you alone." He joked. I giggled, I actually giggled. As embarrassing as I thought it was, I was rewarded with one of his secret smiles. He needs to smile more like this, its like sunshine.

"You know, I could really get use to this new attitude of yours. I don't think I've ever- well I've never seen you smile so much. It looks good on you." My hand came up towards his face and using my first two fingers to trace the shape of his bottom lip, and then I really wanted to kiss him. My body started moving of its own free will and the next thing I knew I was pressing up against him suggestively. It was like magnetic attraction, I couldn't help myself.

He looked down at my body that was flush against his. I saw him swallow and take a couple of shaky breaths. "As-as much," he swallowed again and I had to swallow a laugh. He took another steadying breath, "as much as I want to drag you to my room and lock the door," this scored him a dirty smile from me, "I really do have to get you out of the house." He moved one of his arms behind him and from how I was 'connected' to him, I could feel the material of his jeans move as his hand slid into his back pocket. He brought his hand back up with his fingers enclosed around a piece of fabric.

I attempted to try and lift one eyebrow, the way he always annoyingly does when even he feels the need, but I think I just made a face similar to a grimace. _Oh well, that will have to do._

"Blindfold." He clarified with a smirk.

"Kinky," Was my cocky comeback.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. He mumbled something in Russian and used my shoulders to spin me around. He tied the material over my eyes tightly, I mean _really tightly._

"I still want some blood to circulate around my brain." I said. _God, I was starting to sound like Christian._

"Don't worry. You'll survive. I'll be right behind you, holding on so you won't fall." He replied. I could hear the smirk in his tone. "Okay, lets go."

He started navigating me out the room, through the hallway and towards the stairs.

"Use your other senses to work out what is surrounding you." He instructed.

"Sure thing, Yoda. Hell, I'll even try using the force." I said in a dry tone. "I thought this was suppose to be something like a date, not a step-by-step tutorial of '_How To Gain a Sixth Sense._'" I complained, "Which, might I add, I already have. But it's more commonly known as a bond. Then again, it's not actually common at all. What about when I get nauseous because Strigoi are around, that's got to be another sense. And seeing ghosts, that has to be another one too." I rambled on and on. I had no reason exactly, just the need to keep my chin wagging. "So _technically_ I have like eight senses." I concluded.

"Maybe I should have put a gag on you along with the blindfold." He mumbled.

"Heard that." I said with a smile in my voice.

"Good." He replied, but I could hear a smile in his voice as well. "Here is the tricky part," he said and pulled me to a stop. "You can put your hand on the railing, and I have a good grip on you back here," he said close to my ear as he moved my hand up onto the railing of the staircase and then got a firm grasp of my waist.

"_Higher_." I said keeping that smile in place. His hands actually moved a little higher on either side of my waist, around my ribcage. "_Higher,_" I said again, testing to see if he would really put his hands on my boobs. It was kind of fun, and I knew he would never admit it seeing as he's such a gentlemen and all. Unbelievably he actually moved them to the intended destination and I gasped a little. "Good grip you got back there, Comrade." I sounded breathless and I hate to admit it, but totally turned on. _Great. Now I'm the female version of a horny teenage boy._

His nose glided along under my jaw and his breath against my neck made me shiver with excitement. "Is this high enough?" he rumbled in a deep and husky voice.

"Uh-huh." I said as I felt his lips press along my neck. My body felt hot and tingly, and it was what? Not even ten o'clock in the morning. _Jeesh._

He pulled back with a sigh. That's Dimitri for you, always doing the right thing. I'd say his mother would be proud, but if Olena had seen some of the things we've been doing together- lets just say I don't want to be responsible for my mother-in-law's cardiac arrest.

It wasn't an awkward air, but it definitely wasn't a comfortable one either. So I decided to crack a snarky remark as we slowly descended the stairs. "You know, this a lot of effort to go through just to see me break my neck. You could have picked something a lot more simple." I teased.

"Rose, that's not funny. And I know this is a lot to go through, I would have devised a much quicker plan, and much less painful for myself if I was intending to break your neck." He said back in his '_Not Funny, Rose_' voice.

"It was joke." I clarified. His only reply was a manly grunt. I could just picture his facial expression right now. It made me laugh.

"What?" he asked, clearly not understanding what I found so amusing.

"I can just see what your face looks like right now. That scolding, disapproving look you give me when I crack bad jokes. It made me laugh."

"Well maybe you should get better jokes," he suggested.

"What's wrong with my jokes?" I said in a mock hurt voice, at the same time my heel clipped the edge of the step I was just passing and Dimitri grabbed hold of me to keep me from stumbling.

"Can you just keep concentrating on not falling down the stairs so I can take you somewhere that isn't a place to get medical attention?" he asked me. I'd lost count of all the times he'd taken me to the infirmary.

I sighed and agreed. Once we were outside the front door he took me to a car and opened the door, he even lifted me into the car despite my complains and protests and buckled me in. He closed my door and from the sound of his footfalls he was walking around the car. Next I heard the door to my left open and he jumped in. Not long after that the car was on the road and he _finally_ said, "You can take it off now."

"The blindfold or my clothes?" I asked as I undid the knots behind my head. I heard the quiet chuckling that were making the air vibrate a tiny bit.

Everything was bright at first but my eyes soon adjusted to the sudden light.

"Where are we headed?" I asked out of curiosity. I looked over at him and his eyes were on the road when he answered.

"To get you breakfast." He said simply. My stomach growled loudly. I was starving.

"That's sounds _really_ good." I said with a happy grin. He gave me one of his gorgeous smiles and then we sat in a comfortable silence the rest of the way.

***

We were sitting together on a hill looking over at the sun as it drew closer and closer to sunset. We were leaning against a huge oak tree; Dimitri's back against the bark and mine against his chest. His strong arms were wrapped around me and I felt safe and loved. We'd spent the whole day driving around with him showing me places from his childhood and I managed to snap a couple of photographs of him and I. I even caught one of us kissing. Now I completely agree with him; Russia is a beautiful place.

His fingertips were drawing aimlessly across the skin on my forearm. It made my skin crawl in a good way. I turned my head up to look at him. He was looking out over the setting sun, the golden sunlight covering his stoic features in a heavenly glow. Right at this second he looked like an angel. His skin a flawless gold, his hair glimmered in the light. The only thing that didn't fit in this picture was the faint scar on his neck. The one the blonde Strigoi made when he bit Dimitri back I the caves. My hand came up and brushed the slight blemish.

"I wish I could make that disappear." I said quietly as my fingertips grazed the rutted skin.

He looked down at me when I spoke and his eyes searched my face. "I don't."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Why?" _Why would he want to remember that? _I turned my body slightly in his embrace so I could see his face in a more comfortable position.

He stared into my eyes and a small smile played on his lips. Both of his hands came up to cup my face. "Because it's the day I got a second chance. It made me realise how easily I could lose everything, how easily I could lose you." I could feel hot tears forming in my eyes and I had to blink a couple of times to keep them down. "You were the only thing I could think about when that Strigoi was on my back, Rose. Only you. I didn't even spare a thought for my family. I only wanted you to get out safe. So I could hold you again, and tell you how much I love you." His voice had dropped lower and lower as he spoke and ended close to a whisper. My tears were streaming down my face silently. I couldn't hold them back. I quickly swiped at them and gave a half sob-half laugh. I sniffed and looked back at him just in time to see him pull out a little gold bag from one of his pockets. He held it up and I gave him a questioning look.

"You didn't think I wouldn't get you a present on your birthday?" He asked with an incredulous face.

"I didn't want anything." I said giving _him_ a disapproving look. He just smiled clearly proud of himself as I took the bag. I loosened the strings and tipped the contents of the bag into my open palm.

I gasped. I looked up at him; I couldn't believe he got me this. I picked up the gold chain and it glittered in the light. A gold locket hung at the bottom with a rose engraved in the center with something in Russian underneath.

"It's _beautiful_." My voice trembled, filled with awe. "This must have cost a fortune. Where did you get it? You shouldn't have spent so much on me-" he cut off my protests by pressing his finger to my lips. Once I was quiet he moved his hand away. "What does it say?" I asked him. I really needed to learn some Russian if I was going to stay with him, which I was, preferably forever.

"It says, 'My Heart'. Because you will always have my heart." He said as he took the locket and put it around my neck. When I faced him again I started to lean into him.

"Since the moment I met you, mine was yours," I whispered against his lips.

He chuckled. The sound was a deep, sexy sound. "'Cheap foreign labour' is your idea of sweet talking?" he joked.

I groaned and pulled away, ignoring his attempts to pull me back. "God, I can't believe you _remember_ that. I can't believe I _said that._" I complained about when we first met, "I was such an egotistical… bitch."

He pulled me back. "I remember it because it was the day I met you. If it makes you feel better, when you said it I had a hard time not laughing. I didn't take offence at all. And you did what you did, and said what you said to protect Lissa."

I looked at him to see if he really believed what he told me. His jaw was set and his dark eyes kept contact with mine. "I-" I never got to say that I didn't know what to say. His mouth was stopping any thing I wanted to say. His lips were soft and gentle, never pushing me. I moved into a more comfortable position by straddling his legs, the soft grass cushioning under my knees. The kiss started to get stronger; it's intensity building. His tongue grazed my bottom lip and I opened my mouth wider to let him come join the party.

I needed air but I so was not finished kissing him. I moved along his cheek until I reached his ear, when my hands stroked his neck I breathed his name into his ear, "_Dimitri…_"

A shudder rippled through his entire body at the same time I took his earlobe into my mouth and suckled. It was a learnt over all the years I spent kissing boys, they love it when you pay attention to their earlobes, neck, and chest; and I had every intention to do just that right now with Dimitri.

"Rose…" he managed to choke out my name. His hands were gripping at my thighs; I could tell he was restraining himself from sliding his hands under my dress. My shoes were in the back seat of the car, where I would like to be right at this second. "Rose, we can't do this here…" he said breathlessly.

I pulled away from him and stood up. I grabbed his hand and pulled him up and started towards the backseat of the car. He never said a word as I dragged him along. I opened the door and sat on the seat facing him, I looked up at him and then slid back along the backseat. He didn't even argue, amazingly, he followed me in and shut the door behind him. It wasn't long until things got heated between us, his shirt seemed to vanish into thing air and his hands disappeared to places I doubt I would let a doctor go anywhere near. He had me gasping for air. Were we really going to _do it_ in the _backseat of a car_? That would definitely be something to tell Liss.

Apparently not.

There was a knock on the window above our lip-locked heads. We both looked up to see some guy wearing sunglasses and a scarf looking at us through the slightly tinted glass, a slight smile worn on his face. There were two guys standing behind him that looked like guardians. This guy must be a Moroi.

Dimitri pulled himself off me and had his shirt back on in the next second; I managed to pull my dress down to cover some of the skin I was showing. I really hadn't noticed that my dress was nearly around my neck. I had no idea where Viktoria's cardigan had disappeared too.

Dimitri gave me a slight push towards the door and I opened it and slid out, he was right on my tail. I could tell I had a furious blush covering me from head-to-toe and I didn't bother covering how pissed off I was that we had been interrupted _again_.

Standing beside me, Dimitri had his guardian mask on not letting any emotion slip and a protective hand around my waist.

"Well, well, well," the Moroi guy started. "What do we have here? This wouldn't happen to be the fierce Guardian Dimitri Belikov?" the guy sneered. "I hear your making quite a name for yourself these days. Its always good to have people know who you are and what you do." He directed towards Dimitri.

"If I didn't know better, Abe, I'd say you almost gave me a compliment." Dimitri said in a flat tone. "Almost." His face never changed. _Abe? Is that his name?_

Abe laughed at Dimitri's statement and took of his sunglasses and slid them into the pocket of his long heavy black coat. "Then it's a good thing you know better, isn't it?" the Moroi replied. Then his eyes fell on me and I stiffened. That small smile crept back onto his face again and he asked, "Whom do we have here?"

Dimitri didn't answer for me so I opened my mouth. "Rose," I said bluntly. "Rose Hathaway." I swear to God Abe looked stunned for a fraction of a second, and then his eyes flickered to Dimitri again with a deadly glare. _What the hell? _

In a second his face was neutral and careless again.

"Mmm… I've heard of you as well. The one who ran away with the last Dragomir," He said it in that scornful tone of his. "That's not all though, there's word going round that you're on your way to becoming one of the best guardians the worlds ever seen." He continued, "That's got to be a huge amount of pressure."

"Who the hell are you?" I barked back. I wasn't really in the mood to have a conversation about what I can do as a guardian. I _was _in the mood to get hot and heavy with my man though. But whatever almighty divinity was out there was making it damn sure Dimitri and I got interrupted _every damn freaking time._

"Chatty I see," he said sarcastically. He took a couple of steps towards me and held out his hand, "Abe Mazur." _Mazur… Mazur… I've heard that name before._

I shook it cautiously, his grip surprisingly firm like he used it to intimidate people and I decided to take in just exactly what he looked like. He was tall and slim but had the most muscle I'd seen on a Moroi, with dark eyes, black hair and a goatee. He was as tanned as a Moroi could get and appeared to be a little younger then Olena. His outfit screamed money, especially the gold chain around his neck and the gold hoop in his earlobe. His accent wasn't American or Russian, which made me start thinking about other countries and what they sound like. But the worst thing of all about this Abe guy was the vibe I got from him, like a mobster who broke kneecaps to get his way.

"Who told you about me?" I asked him guardedly.

"That's for only me to know, little girl." He smiled over at me. It made my stomach feel uneasy.

"Don't call me _little girl,_ old man." The guardians behind him stiffened, Dimitri's hand tightened along with his grip on me. "Not unless you want this to end in a fight," I warned through my clenched teeth.

He laughed a deep dangerous chuckle, but it sounded genuinely amused. "You live up to that assertive reputation I've heard so much about. How pleasing," he commented. "All you need to know is, I can be a very good friend or a very bad enemy." He concluded.

He nodded at Dimitri, "Belikov." Then did the same to me, making sure he looked me up and down while he was at it. "Hathaway." And the he turned with his guardians and got into a dark car and drove away.

"Did he threaten me?" I asked Dimitri as we both stared after the car.

"Don't look to closely into it," he replied. "Zmey has a different way of showing who he likes and dislikes then a lot of other people. I don't think he threatened you, but there was definitely something he wasn't saying; and I think it was something to do with you."

"_Great._" I said dryly. "You called him _zz-may, _or whatever_._ What does that mean? It's Russian right?"

"Forget about it. I need to get you home." He bent down and pecked my lips softly, and I started remembering what we were doing not that long ago. He obviously didn't want to talk about Abe. _Abe Mazur… why does his name bother me so much? I've heard it before… but from who?_

"You sound like my prom date." I joked. "Do you really want to take me home or would you rather continue our scintillating conversation in the backseat…" I let what I was saying trail on. He shook his head smiling.

"My family have the whole night set up for you and I promised to have you there. And I don't break my promises." He said cheerfully.

I sighed. "Fine, take me away kind sir."

He kissed me again, only this time his warm lips lingered. "Have I told you how beautiful you are?" he asked in a low husky voice.

"You might have… but you can say it again if you'd like." I smiled up at him as he drew me closer.

"You're the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on." He whispered in my ear. "I love you…" his hand was twisting one of the soft curls.

"Those are my favourite three words." I confessed. "And I love you too." I pulled his face down a bit and reached up on my tippy-toes to give him a kiss that lasted longer than a second.

He eventually pulled away causing me to sigh again.

"Now get in the car Miss Hathaway." He said putting on his authority voice and his guardian mask. I could see the smile in his eyes.

"Yes, Guardian Belikov." I answered in an innocent girly tone with a smirk. I winked at him and dove into passengers seat.

***

The party that the Belikov's had arranged was amazing. There were balloons tied to everything. A bonfire was set up away from the area for a dance floor. I think it was there if you didn't want to be around all the noise and people. There was a long table covered in food and big bowls of coloured liquid that looked like punch. There would have to be just over fifty people here, and nearly everyone one of them wanted to talk to Dimitri. He was standing with a small group of guys that looked about his age, talking about guardian stuff. He wanted to introduce me to everyone personally; that's how I did the head count. Viktoria and Sonya had managed to haul some decent music that actually had English lyrics and a couple in Russian. People were talking and laughing, eating and drinking, dancing and singing, and just having down right fun.

Right now I was sitting on a chair at an empty table drinking some red liquid that tasted like strawberry. It was surprisingly good, in a sickly-sweet way. From where I was seated I could see the door that the guests were entering through which was how I knew when Abe Mazur arrived. Like earlier today, his two guardians were in toe right behind him. What I didn't get was – he wasn't a royal, but he had two assigned guardians with him all the time.

"Ugh. _Zmey's_ here." Said a voice from beside me. I jumped and spun around to face a smiling Karolina. _Nice work Rose, you're gonna be a badass guardian with your hearing._

"I didn't hear you sit down," I confessed to her.

She laughed gently, sounding a lot like her mother. "Sorry. It's a habit. When Paul was a baby, he would wake up at the slightest of sounds. So, I made sure when I put him to bed I didn't make a noise." She explained.

I smiled. "You're like Supermom," I joked. She laughed like Olena again and nodded at Abe.

"Have you met Abe yet?" she asked.

"Sadly, yes." I told her. "Why do you and Dimitri call him Zzma-something?" I asked. What did it mean?

"_Zmey._" She corrected, "It translates to snake in Russian. I think it was a name the Alchemists gave him." She said thoughtfully.

"What's an _Alchemist_?" I asked stupidly.

"Haven't you learned about them yet in school?" she questioned. I shook my head. "Well, all you really need to know is that they only ever really show up when there's trouble with our kind and Strigoi. If you want to know more, ask your teachers when you get back to America." She closed that topic and moved to a more present situation. "So, how are you liking the party?"

"It's great," I said truthfully because it was great. "The decorations are awesome. And Dimitri introduced me to _everyone._ Literally." She laughed.

"That's our Dimka. He's proud of you, he wants to show you off. We all do." She said happily.

I smiled over at her. "Did he tell you I had a panic attack on the way here, to me you guys?" I told her sheepishly. It's not exactly fun to tell someone that you did something embarrassing and stupid.

She barked out a small dubious laugh, "_Why?_" she asked.

"I don't know," I did. "I guess I was just really nervous. I mean back in the U.S. I don't care if people don't like me. But you're _his_ family. You're the people he talked so much about to me; he's crazy about all of you." I explained. "I just wanted all of you to like me."

"We loved you the moment we heard your name over the phone," She said in a serious voice. "Dimka was never really a ladies man," she was trying to hid a smirk. "He was always polite and kind when he didn't have his head in a Country Western book or working his but off to be a strong guardian. But the second your name passed his lips we knew you had him hook, line and sinker. He just kept going on and on and on, and we practically demanded that he bring you to see us."

I laughed. "So do I fit your expectations?"

"You are so much better then we expected." She sounded like she meant it.

"Thanks." I replied, "I mean for everything. For excepting me, for the party, for not eating me alive," I laughed. She joined in too and swiped my camera to take one of me laughing. "Hey!"

"That one's for Dimitri. You're really pretty when you smile."

"Sorry. It's a habit," I teased using the same words she used earlier. We joked around for a while and took another photo together, which was about then when I heard a voice in my head.

_I love that dress you're wearing! Where did you get it?_

It was Lissa.

My body tensed and I stopped listening to Dimitri's oldest sister. How did she know what I was wearing?

"That's my que to leave. Your surprise is here." Karolina said as she stood up and headed over to a man who gave her a very intimate hug. That must be he steady Dhampir boyfriend she was talking about to Sonya the other night at dinner.

My eyes scanned the partygoers and landed on Dimitri talking and laughing with a woman who had her back to me. She had long black hair and was laughing with him. I was only slightly jealous and possessive until I saw who she was when she turned to face me and waved.

It was Tasha. Tasha Ozera. _Is it a normal reaction to want to tear someone's throat out just because they live and breathe? Probably not, but I still wanted to do just that._

Then another really exciting thought hit me.

Lissa must be here too with Christian and his aunt.

I looked around frantically and my eyes fell on my best friend.

I didn't even know I had gotten up and started running until I slammed into her hard. She made an '_Oof!'_ sound when I collided into her and soon we were both laughing and screaming together. I could tell people were staring clueless at us but I didn't acknowledge their staring. I pulled back at arms length and asked the question I had rolling around in my head.

"What are you doing here?" I yelled in her face.

She smiled. "Happy Birthday," she sang. "You didn't think I would miss my best friend's eighteenth birthday? Rose, I've never missed your birthday and I am determined to keep it that way." I squealed again and gave her another hug.

Christian surprisingly hugged me too. "Happy Birthday Hathaway," he said with a smirk. "Your getting old. I think I can see some grey hairs right here-" I swatted away his hand he was reaching out to touch my hair with and glared at him. He just chuckled like the annoying moron he is.

"Oh how I've missed being in the presence of the pyromaniac. And his Princess," I smiled at Liss who was beaming at me.

"We bought you some presents, but figured you didn't want to carry them back on the plane you came here on. I got them sent to the academy and asked for them to be left inside your room." She told me.

"You really didn't have to get me anything. You know that." I said disapprovingly.

"It's already been taken care of, so there's no point in complaining Rose." She said cheerfully. "Oh, and you might want to turn around," she added.

"Huh?" I said as I spun in my heels and got blasted with a cloud of clove cigarette smoke.

"Little Dhampir. Happy Birthday, your finally a big girl now." He mused. I rolled my eyes and gave him a hug, he was actually surprised by the gesture but I ignored it.

He opened his mouth to say something when all hell broke loose. I keeled over and gripped at my stomach.

Strigoi.

I jumped into action.

"STRIGOI! EVERYBODY GROUP TOGETHER, NOW!" I screamed. People obeyed immediately. I thrust my hand up under my dress and pulled out the hidden stake I had wedged between my panties I chosen out for Dimitri and my bare hip. My grip was so tight my knuckles turned white. Everyone had grouped together tightly in a cluster behind me, with at least twenty guardians forming a line around the group of mainly women, children and a handful of Moroi, protectively.

Dimitri was looking out towards the trees just across from the campfire. Somehow I knew that's where they were, and that there was definitely more than one.

Then one broke through the trees.

Shortly followed by four more. They headed straight for us, for the group.

I knew in my gut that there was only this many here. I had no way of explaining how I knew, I was just one hundred percent sure of it.

Seven guardians I counted in my peripheral vision, including Dimitri and me, started creeping forward towards the deadly creatures. I had to take deep breaths to keep from retching I felt so bad. Dimitri kept casting sidelong looks.

"Roza… I love you." Dimitri said quietly, his breathing had sped up and his muscles had tensed up. He must have been thinking about the last time we had a run in with Strigoi, it didn't end very well. For either of us.

"I love you too. But nothing's going to happen, we'll be fine." I said back. Not only to him, but to myself as well. Adrenaline was racing through my veins and I took a daring step forward, towards the enemy.

We were about a hundred feet away when the first Strigoi spoke.

"We heard that last Dragomir was in town. We thought we might drop in for dinner." He sneered.

"_Over my dead body._" I growled fiercely. I could feel all Lissa's fear and anxiety; she was terrified.

"All in good time, Sweetheart." He laughed; the sound send shivers down my spine. He had dark red hair slicked back and was just a little taller then me, but not quite Dimitri's height.

"Don't call me _Sweetheart_ you disgusting monster!" I screeched at him and lunged at the same time, faking a punch and kicking him square in the gut. He stumbled a few steps and flew straight towards me. I moved out of his way half a second before his fist swung. He turned and we started circling. I could hear the others fighting now, the grunts and the sound of arms and legs connecting with bodies.

The Strigoi tried a few tactics on me but I managed to duck in time or slip away from him before he could get a grip. His arm swung at me and I spun around to get out of its line of target, but he guessed my move and swung with his other fist. He caught me that time, right in the side of the face. I cried out in pain. Damn, it hurt.

"Son of a bitch!" I yelled at him.

He chuckled darkly and kept advancing on me. We kept this for what seemed like forever. I almost cried out in joy when I noticed the six other guardians closing in on the last Strigoi alive, the one I was battling with. I was panting for air, my body hurt from the blows I'd taken and I was feeling exhausted.

It all happened so fast. Dimitri and another guy I think was named August dived forward and grabbed the Strigoi's arms. That was all I needed, that small opening of vulnerability and I took it. I yanked back my arm and slammed my stake into its chest. I cried out using the last of my strength, the sound mingling with creature final cry of pain. It's eyes made contact with mine and it became lifeless.

Dimitri's big hands gripped my shoulders and his eyes searched mine. "Rose. Rose, are you okay. You're hurt. Let's get you cleaned up." He tried to pull me away but I didn't budge. I was suddenly overcome by a body-shaking wave of desire. To put it simply, I wanted sex. And bad.

I looked up at him and tried to show how I was feeling through my eyes. "Right now," I said only for his ears.

I could tell by the way his face changed and his breath caught, that he knew what I meant. "Right now," he repeated but it sounded more like a question. "My room?" he asked.

I shook my head. I had one place in mind. "Backseat." I said simply.

He took my hand and we started almost running for the car where we were going to lock the doors, and we were going to do what we had been trying to do for the last four days.

* * *

**Pleeeeeeeeeease Review.**

**and i hope you enjoyed my fanfic. :)**

**Hannah. x  
**


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